Aston Martin announces new Zagato collaboration

Aston Martin's history with Zagato goes back to the luscious DB4 GT Zagato of 1960. Since then, we've seen Milanese interpretations of the DB7 and V12 Vantage, both of which, like the DB4, wound up as limited-production runs. These two cars are a little different.

Like the Vanquish Zagato Roadster of 2005, the DBS Coupe Zagato Centennial and DB9 Spyder Zagato Centennial were developed as one-offs in celebration of the British automaker's 100th year in business. Unlike the Vanquish, which was marked for possible series production, these two were custom-built for private customers.

The coupe, of course, features the signature Zagato double-bubble roof and a front end that evokes a hybrid of the late-'60s/early-'70s DBS and the '58 Dual-Ghia 400. The rear-end treatment of both cars evokes a '90s-Italianate interpretation of Lincoln's midcentury Futura concept. The pair is actually rather shocking to behold. Rather than a pair of British personal-luxury grand tourers, they almost feel like what Lincoln should be doing instead of mucking around with plankton-filtering mustaches. Then again, the Ford/Aston design-similarity business didn't start with the Evos concept; it dates back at least as far as the gentleman's-Mustang Aston Martin V8 built from 1972 to 1989.

The Spyder will wind up in the collection of American Astonphile Peter Read. The Coupe, meanwhile, is headed to an unnamed Japanese entrepreneur, who upon receipt of his automobile will no doubt exclaim, "Domo arigato, Aston, Zagato!"

By Davey G. Johnson