The Bite Magazine Issue 17

bite cars F or the past few years, car brands have been known to collaborate with design houses to create capsule collections but one of Aston Martin’s latest creations is actually in form of a car: Vanquish Zagato Coupe, from their long-stand- ing partnership with prestigious Italian design house Zagato. The limited series concept was unveiled at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Lake Como, Italy earlier this year to great acclaim but will only produce a total of 99 cars at Aston Martin’s production facility in Gaydon, England, so we’d imagine that there’ll be a great demand from car enthusiasts to get their hands on one. As the fifth car to emerge from the partnership between these two entities which stretches over five decades, we’ll expect to see Aston Martin’s acclaimed dynamic and material qualities paired with Zagato’s signature design language. It was in the 1960s that the first col- laboration in the form of the beautifully muscular DB4 GT Zagato racing car came to life, followed by the V8 Vantage Zagato in 1986, the DB7 Vantage Zagato in 2002 and the V12 Vantage Zagato in 2011. Also, new on the scene is the Vanquish Zagato Volante, the perfect striking partner to the coupe presented at the North American International Auto Show and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. As with the coupe, this model will be limited to a production run of 99 cars and was added to the line because of an overwhelming customer interest in the coupe. Its predecessors include the striking V8 Vantage Volante first shown in Geneva in 1987 and the DB AR1 in 2003. Whilst the Van- quish Zagato Coupe accelerates from 0-60 mph in 3.5 seconds, the Volante is slightly behind by two seconds at 3.7 seconds. Both models embrace Aston Martin’s inherent refinement and capabilities as well as their iconic V12 powertrain along with Zagato’s charac- teristic design details. The Volante also shares its proportions with the coupe, a quintessential Aston Martin form with a classic Zagato twist, evoked by round tail light reflectors that use the same ‘bladed’ LED technology as the Aston Martin Vulcan supercar. The Vanquish Zagato Coupe has been uprated with Aston Martin’s 6.0L V12 powertrain to increase its output to 600PS creating a dynamic GT driving experience while the Volante’s output has been increased to 592PS. The design of the coupé closely resembles the concept exhibited at Villa d’Este with proportions that remain quintessen- tially Aston Martin. Its new bodywork is entirely shaped from carbon fibre with the split lines on the body significantly reduced by the use of large one-piece panels. Its sculptural rear end is similar to DB11 aerodynamic profile complete with retractable spoiler and rear hatch for easy access to the luggage com- partment. Rippling carbon fibre sills run around the lower body to create a pronounced line from front to rear, with a quad-exhaust nestling within the curvaceous shapes.