When the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato showed up topless at Pebble Beach last fall, your correspondent — like anyone with a pulse and a heavy right foot — was not mad. And now I am even less mad.
Because the Aston team just announced that they’ll be adding a Speedster and Shooting Brake edition to the Zagato family on top of the convertible edition. And we like it. Because if you find a brand you like, buy every jacket and trouser they have — one for each occasion.
The new Speedster and Shooting Brake are essentially the same as the Coupé and Convertible: all four pack a naturally aspirated V12 gunnin’ with 592 ponies.
The Speedster is probably the prize of the bunch, as it will be the rarest of the Vanquish Zagatos, with just 28 models built. And — spoiler alert — all 28 have already been sold. You should still be excited to see one speed by, though, as they’ll feature increased spring rates with modified dampers, a heftier rear anti-roll bar and enhanced hydraulic steering. The Speedster will be powered by a paddle-shift Touchtronic III transmission, she’s still rear-wheel-dive, and she’s still got that tasty carbon fiber bodywork through and through … Just with two Speedster-defining humps in the rear in place of a roof. Because there is no roof. Check the weather before you head out in this gem.
Rendering via Aston Martin
As for the Shooting Brake, we don’t have the full details. But the term hails from a 19th-century British term for vehicles that one would take out for a shooting party, meaning there was room in it for your guns. Which goes to explain what appears to be a powered boot that opens for storing whatever it you need it to — guns or otherwise — and a “roomier” cabin. In other words, it’s a really fast station wagon for hunting.
Bonus: there’s an accompanying luggage set.
Why all these special editions?
As told by Aston Martin CCO Marek Reichman: “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. We’re creating collectibles, future Concours cars. 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.”
Good luck hunting one down.
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