2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante

2018 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante

Periodically, Aston Martin has renewed its relationship with the celebrated Italian styling house of Carrozzeria Zagato, continuing a fruitful collaboration that had started back in the early 1960s with the building of 19 special competition cars on the DB4 GT chassis.

Zagato had forged it's not inconsiderable reputation by building a succession of lightweight aerodynamic sports and GT cars, most notable on Alfa Romeo and Lancia chassis, so its choice as partner for the development of the somewhat more utilitarian shooting brake concept may seem surprising at first. In fact, the Shooting Brake was just one of four new Zagato-styled models to be built on the V12 Vanquish platform, the others being a Speedster, a Coupé, and a Volante. The planned production was for 99 Coupés, 99 Volantes, 28 Speedsters, and 99 Shooting Brakes, making 325 cars in all. All four designs are the result of close creative collaboration between Aston Martin and Zagato.

First member of the family, the Vanquish Zagato Coupé had commenced production in late 2016. Next in line was the Vanquish Zagato Volante, the announcement of which on 15th August 2017 in Carmel, California marked another milestone in what is recognized as one of the most enduring creative partnerships in the global automotive industry. At the same time it was confirmed that not only would a Vanquish Zagato Speedster enter production but that it would be joined by a spectacular Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake.

With all four designs based upon the Vanquish S, each Zagato enjoys the combination of 580bhp naturally-aspirated V12 engine mated to the smooth, slick-shifting Touchtronic III transmission. Boasting adaptive suspension damping – fine-tuned for each model - the Vanquish Zagato family promises exceptional driving pleasure that is every bit as stimulating and memorable as their design.

Aston Martin's Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, said of the Vanquish Zagato family:

"We haven't released Zagato models as a family before, at least not in this way, but the idea is not without precedent. Think back to the DB7 Zagato and DB AR1, or the V8 Zagato Coupé and Volante, for example. We've simply taken things a few steps further. Why create a family of Zagatos? Well, many of our customers want different things. Some prefer the purity of a Coupé, but others love the idea of something more extreme, like the Speedster. And yes, some of them have ordered one example of each. There's always an over demand from our clients and patrons. We could easily fulfil demand for more cars than this, but we want Zagato to remain something very special. We're creating collectibles, future concours cars. With only 325 cars worldwide, divided between 99 Coupés, 99 Volantes, 28 Speedsters and 99 Shooting Brakes - they are still the rarest of the rare."

Andrea Zagato, Zagato's CEO, said of the enduring creative partnership:

"Zagato's relationship with Aston Martin began with my grandfather and the DB4 GT Zagato, almost sixty years ago. To have a creative "marriage" thrive for three generations is something as unique as the cars themselves. My family name is associated with all kinds of wonderful designs, but for many enthusiasts and collectors around the world those that combine the Z of Zagato with the wings of Aston Martin are the most special. Collaborating closely on the design of four complimentary, yet completely different Vanquish Zagatos has been an incredibly exciting challenge. I'm proud to continue the story my grandfather started and thrilled that our partnership with Aston Martin continues to realize such exciting cars."

Descriptions and pictures by bonhams