Aston Martin and Italian design-house Zagato are proud to announce the Vanquish Zagato Concept, the latest creation from their long-standing partnership. The Vanquish Zagato Concept will make its global debut at the prestigious Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, held at Lake Como in Italy from 21 – 22 May 2016

The Vanquish Zagato Concept is the fifth car to emerge from a collaboration that stretches back over five decades, pairing Aston Martin's acclaimed sporting, dynamic and material qualities with Zagato's signature design language.

From the iconic DB4 GT Zagato of 1960 through to the V12 Vantage Zagato of 2011, every collaboration has accentuated key aspects of Aston Martin's design journey and brought them together with Zagato's own race-inspired design language. The result is a group of four sports cars that represent some of Aston Martin's most avant-garde expressions.

The Vanquish Zagato Concept was designed in close colaboration between the Aston Martin Design team led by Marek Reichman and Andrea Zagato and his dedicated design team in Milan. Developed and engineered at Aston Martin’s headquarters in Gaydon, England the concept features proportions that remain quintessentially Aston Martin and emphasises a dynamic, forwardlooking stance. The new bodywork is entirely shaped from carbon fibre, with the split lines on the body reduced by the use of large one-piece panels. New lights include round tail light reflectors that evoke the classic rear view of a Zagato design, incorporating the same 'bladed' LED technology as the Aston Martin Vulcan track-only supercar.

Aston Martin Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman said 'Over the years, we have developed and refined our own design language and we have always gone that little bit further with our special series cars like CC-100, One-77 and Aston Martin Vulcan. The Vanquish Zagato Concept shows how our two companies can come together and push the definition of Aston Martin design.'

'We pride ourselves on our strong partnership and the creation of the Vanquish Zagato Concept was a true shared experience,' says Zagato's CEO, Andrea Zagato, 'it represents the essence of an important design relationship that dates back over fifty years.'

Referencing elements of the brand’s contemporary design language, Vanquish Zagato Concept features One-77 inspired wing mirrors and a sculptural rear end similar to DB11's aerodynamic profile, complete with retractable spoiler and rear hatch for access to the luggage compartment. A quad-exhaust nestles in the rippling carbon fibre sills that run around the lower body, creating a pronounced line from front to rear.

The Vanquish Zagato Concept’s glasshouse wraps around the bodywork like a visor, enhancing its aggressive stance. A new evolution of the classic side strake runs from wheel arch to door just like the new DB11 and a detail originally showcased on the celebratory CC-100. A sharp crease on the rear wheel arch transforms into the rear flanks, where it meets the cascading roofline.

The roof features the iconic 'double-bubble', its shallow radius dipping into the rear window glass to give the car an unmistakeable rear silhouette. A Zagato trademark since the early 1950s, originally arose from the need to accommodate racing helmets with a minimum impact on the aerodynamic profile. To match the bold new exterior, the concepts normally aspirated V12 engine has been uprated to 600 PS, along with enhanced driving dynamics.

Inside, the Vanquish Zagato Concept embodies the fine tradition of Aston Martin craftsmanship, replete with many singular touches. Herringbone carbon fibre is paired with shadow and anodized bronze and aniline leather to give the facia, vents and rotary dials a rich material quality. The Vanquish Zagato Concept is also defined by the unique ‘Z’ quilt pattern stitch used on the seat and door sections, as well as the celebrated trademark Zagato ‘Z’ embossed on headrests and stitched into the centre console.

Behold the latest additions to the Vanquish Zagato family

First came the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato, and it was good. 592bhp worth of V12-engined goodness wrapped up in a Zagato body.

Then came the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante, and it was also good. 592bhp worth of V12-engined goodness wrapped up in a roofless, Zagato body.

Now, we can reveal the next two models in this burgeoning, Vanquish Zagato family. Please be upstanding, or whatever it is you have to be when viewing things on a computer or mobile phone, for the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster and Shooting Brake.

We’ll start with the Speedster, because there are more pictures of it, and because it will be the rarest of all the Vanquish Zagatos. Just 28 of these will be built, and unsurprisingly, all 28 have been sold. And there we were, set to value our kidneys…

It is based, as all Vanquish Zagatos are, on the recent Vanquish S’s underpinnings. Said underpinnings feature increased spring rates, retuned dampers, a thicker rear anti-roll bar and revised hydraulic steering over the previous Vanquish. For this Zagato Speedster, the adaptive damping has again been “fine-tuned”.

There’s plenty of engine to mull over, too. The rather lovely – albeit ageing – 6.0-litre V12 is in full-bananas tune again, producing that headline 600PS (592bhp), delivered via a paddle-shift Touchtronic III transmission. Also, it remains very much rear-drive. 592bhp and rear-drive is good whichever way you paint it.

As with other Zagato models, the Speedster’s body panels are all carbon fibre, and features the Vulcan’s cool ‘blade’ rear lights, and Zagato ‘Z’ badges in the front grille. The two speedster humps over the rear represent Zagato’s traditional double bubble roof, because of course, there is no roof.

What does have a roof is the Shooting Brake Vanquish Zagato, which is steadily shooting its way up Top Gear’s most desirable Shooting Brakes list. It is, in a word, amazing. No argument. All the technical attributes are as before (6.0-litre V12, much power, rear drive, carbon fibre etc etc), but this one – detailed only via sketch at this early stage – gets a powered boot that opens up to reveal what we’re promised is a nicely finished cabin area. There’s even a luggage set.

Interestingly, this Shooting Brake is still only a two-seater, which makes it even better. A practical, rear-drive luxury GT with an Aston and Zagato badge? Take, money, and, my, shut, up. Rearrange to form the correct response.

“Think back to the DB7 Zagato and DB AR1, or the V8 Zagato Coupe and Volante,” explains Aston’s Marek Reichmann on the new family. “We’ve simply taken things a few steps further.

“We want Zagato to remain something very special,” he added. “We’re creating collectibles. With only 325 cars worldwide, divided between 99 Coupes, 99 Volantes, 28 Speedsters and 99 Shooting Brakes, they are still the rarest of the rare.”

Andrea Zagato weighs in with some history. “Zagato’s relationship with Aston Martin began with my grandfather and the DB4 GT Zagato, almost sixty years ago. 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,” he added.

By our count, only the Shooting Brake remains available for purchase (though this may change quite quickly). Let’s imagine for a second that all four were available, and you had just one money bullet to aim at one of the Vanquish Zagato models: which gets your shot?