Aston Martin V12 Zagato

 

When Aston Martin and Italian design house Zagato get together, something special usually happens.

The relationship spans more than 50 years and has spawned classics like the DB4GT Zagato and the DB7 Zagato. Now Aston has released pictures of the production-ready V12 Zagato – and we were granted an exclusive studio session with the car.

The Zagato is based on a V12 Vantage and has been clothed in a combination of hand-rolled aluminium and carbon fibre. This cuts 100kg from the Vantage’s kerbweight and results in the spectacular shape you see here.

The aluminium double-bubble roof and bulging haunches are Zagato trademarks, while the diffuser, spoiler and carbon front splitter hint at huge performance. A ‘Z’ pattern in the grille mesh repeats the Zagato logo.

Each car takes a painstaking 2,000 man hours to build; simply painting it one of the four unique colours – Scintilla Silver, Alloro Green, Alba Blue or Diavolo Red – is the work of 100 hours.

Under the body the 510bhp 6.0-litre V12 is left untouched, while special ‘Z’ embroidery features on the headrest and parcel shelf. The dash and centre stack are trimmed in carbon fibre.

Only 150 examples will be made at Aston’s HQ in Gaydon, Warks, in a facility built especially for producing the One-77. The UK price for the V12 Zagato is an eye-watering £396,000.

Read this week's Auto Express (out 8 January 2012) for an exclusive Q and A with Aston's design chief Marek Reichman.

 

 

.autoexpress.co.uk