Car and Driver: Catch Some Zs: Aston Martin, Zagato Collaborate on Vanquish-Based Z Machine

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Aston Martin and Italian design house Zagato have a relationship that dates back more than 50 years, but that tryst has seen heating up lately. There was the DB7 Zagato in 2002, the hot V12 Zagato in 2011, the two rebodied Astons Zagato built to celebrate Aston Martin’s centenary in 2013, and now this: the Vanquish Zagato concept. It’s the fifth car Zagato has built for Aston Martin, and it will make its debut this weekend at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in Lake Como, Italy.

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The Vanquish Zagato concept, as you probably already surmised, is based on the current Aston Martin Vanquish coupe. But this is no badge-swap—the concept wears and all-new skin rendered from carbon fiber; classic round taillights with awesome LED strakes around their perimeters in place of the Vanquish’s thin, modern units; and a slick carbon-fiber aero package all the way around.

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The Zagato’s rear haunches are more pronounced, the rear fenders bulging like a flexed bicep, and Aston Martin’s “side blade” trim piece is framed by severe chamfers that expand into two sail panels behind the front wheels. The roofline is similarly transformed, with a more graceful sweep that terminates in a blade-like rear spoiler. There’s a little bit of Nissan’s GT-R in the flat, angled side glass shape and the wraparound-look windshield, but the flourishes contribute to a Vanquish that’s far less rounded and graceful and far more aggressive and dynamic-looking. We’d offer that this Zagato is even better-looking than the Vanquish on which it’s based, and that’s not an easy thing to pull off.

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Zagato’s touch extends to the Vanquish’s more delicate bits, with a cool “Z” pattern in the grille, meshwork around the taillights, and even on the seat bolsters. The interior is further jazzed up with herringbone-weave carbon-fiber (easily the most pretentious, yet also most incredible, carbon-fiber pattern you’ll likely find), anodized bronze trim, and aniline leather. Let’s hope this Zagato creation doesn’t remain a concept. There’s precedent, too: Aston has a history of putting its Zagato one-offs on sale, having sold 150 examples of the V12 Zagato for stupid money in 2013.

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