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If you were asked to name a Zagato-bodied Aston Martin, the chances are that you'd think of the original DB4 GT collaboration from 1960.
Or perhaps one of the multitude of recent models. Even if your knowledge of cars that have resulted from the collaboration is keen, we bet you didn't know that so far there have been 14 different models so far, with a couple of still-born projects along the way.
Encompassing open and closed cars and even a couple of shooting brakes, this is the Aston Martin Zagato timeline, which has seen some of the most striking-looking cars ever made:
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Aston Martin's roots
Founded in 1913, Aston Martin went through a series of owners before David Brown (1904-1993) bought the company in 1947, giving it some semblance of stability – and it was his initials that adorned most of the company's models from that point on. The first car developed under David Brown was the Two-Litre Sports, launched in 1948 and retrospectively known as the DB1, but it was the DB4 of 1958 (shown here) that led to the first collaboration with Zagato two years later.
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A (very) brief history of Zagato
Ugo Zagato, born in 1890, founded his own carrozzeria (coachbuilding firm) in Milan in 1919. Much of his early work was with Alfa Romeo (shown here is a Zagato-bodied 6C 1750), then after WW2 Ugo's two sons Elio and Gianni joined the firm. When their father died in 1968 the two siblings took control of the company. Elio died in 2009, leaving Gianni in charge, and he then handed over the reins to Elio's son Andrea (born 1960), who with his wife Marella now runs Zagato.
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Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (1960)
The Aston Martin-Zagato story begins here, with one of the most gorgeous cars ever created. The start point was the DB4 GT, which was a DB4 with five inches cut from its wheelbase for lower weight and greater agility – Zagato's lightweight aluminium bodyshell improved the dynamics even further. Whereas the regular DB4 tipped the scales at 1354kg, the Zagato edition was a featherweight 1171kg.
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Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (1960)
With a 3670cc twin-cam straight-six fed by a trio of Weber carburettors, the DB4 GT had 314bhp on tap, which was enough to despatch the 0-60mph sprint in just 6.1 seconds on the way to a top speed of 153mph. Just 19 DB4 GT Zagatos were made between 1960 and 1962; they all survive and they're now the most collectible and valuable of all road-going Astons.
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Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato coupé (1986)
Aston Martin went through a lot of turmoil in the 1970s, but in the 1980s the company collaborated once again with Zagato, this time on a strikingly designed two-seater coupé, this time based on a short-wheelbase V8 Vantage.
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Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato coupé (1986)
The 5340cc V8 was rated at 432bhp and when the prototype was unveiled at the 1985 Geneva salon the car was an instant hit. Aston Martin said that 50 cars would be built, but the final run was 52.
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Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato Volante (1987)
With the coupé having proved so popular it made sense to come back for more, so in 1987 an open-topped model was shown at the Geneva motor show, now with flip-up headlights in place of the previous fixed items.
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Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato Volante (1987)
This time the plan was to keep things even more exclusive by building just 25 examples, but 37 V8 Vantage Zagato Volantes had been made by the time production was halted at the end of 1988.
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Zagato Lagonda Rapide (1988)
Buoyed by the success of its V8 models, Zagato was on a roll and was keen to maintain momentum. At the 1988 Geneva show Zagato unveiled a mock-up of a two-door Lagonda coupé, but it looked awful from every angle, its proportions and stance missing the mark completely. Thankfully the Lagonda Rapide disappeared, never to be seen again.
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Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato (2002)
When Aston Martin chief Ulrich Bez found himself sitting next to Andrea Zagato at Pebble Beach in 2001, he suggested that Aston Martin and Zagato should revive their collaboration. The result was a more rounded DB7 coupé with an oversized grille, powered by a 435bhp 5935cc V12 which drove the rear wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox.
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Aston Martin DB7 Vantage Zagato (2002)
In terms of bodywork, only the windscreen was carried over from the production car, while the wheelbase was reduced by 2.5 inches – the rear overhang was cut by a massive eight inches. The DB7 Zagato was still no lightweight though as it weighed a hefty 1850kg, although it was claimed to still be capable of 184mph. Between 2002 and 2004 there were 100 DB7 Zagatos made, 99 of which were offered for sale.
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Aston Martin DB AR1 (2003)
As the name suggests, the DB American Roadster 1 was created for the US market, marker lights and all, and it was essentially an open-topped version of the DB7 Zagato. Unveiled at the 2003 Los Angeles auto show, once again there were 100 built and all but one was made with left-hand drive. This was effectively a run-out DB7, with the final car being built in February 2004, by which point the DB9 had been unveiled.
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Aston Martin DB AR1 (2003)
Whereas the DB7 Zagato featured a shortened wheelbase, the AR1 didn't. No roof was fitted and although this was a DB7 Zagato convertible, much of the styling was tweaked in the metamorphosis from closed car to open. Mechanically the AR1 was the same as the DB7 Zagato, although this time an automatic transmission was available – and one in five cars featured this.
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Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato (2004)
A still-born project, the Vanquish Zagato never reached production – which is a pity as it looks superb. It's a very subtle reworking of the coupé and it was first shown at the 2004 Geneva motor show. Forward of the windscreen was unchanged while at the rear there was a reprofiled bumper and round lights in place of the regular items. Just the one fully driveable prototype was made, which is in private hands.
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Aston Martin V12 Vantage Zagato (2011)
We first saw the V12 Vantage Zagato as a concept in May 2011; within weeks a pair of competition cars were entered in the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and they both finished the race. The next step was to release a road-going version of the car, which was constructed in the UK by Coventry Prototype Panels using a mixture of aluminium and carbon fibre.
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Aston Martin V12 Vantage Zagato (2011)
Using the 2009 Vantage V12 as its basis, which meant a 510bhp V12 engine was in the nose, the plan was to build up to 101 of these track-ready coupés. First seen in 2011, production of the V12 Zagato started the following year – but by the time the final example had been built in 2013 just 65 cars had been made.
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Aston Martin Zagato DB9 Spyder (2013)
Zagato is no stranger to creating visually challenging cars and while its eighties V8 coupé and Volante models were quirky, this one-off was something else altogether. Built for a wealthy American collector to celebrate Aston Martin's centenary, the DB9 Spyder was based on a standard production DB9 Volante, retaining that car's interior, but with all-new outer panels.
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Aston Martin Zagato DBS Coupé (2013)
As with the DB9 Spyder, the DBS coupé made its debut in July 2013 – and once again just a single example was made. Created for a Japanese fan of Aston Martin, the DBS coupé was little more than a fixed-head version of the DB9 Spyder. As a result Zagato incorporated a double-bubble roof design – something which has been the company's trademark since the 1950s and which has featured on numerous Aston Martin/Zagato hard-top collaborations.
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Aston Martin Zagato Virage Shooting Brake (2014)
The third of Aston Martin's Centennial Trilogy, the Virage Shooting Brake was another one-off. It didn't appear until a year after its siblings though, making its debut in autumn 2014. Built for a European customer, the Shooting Brake got the same nose treatment as the DB9 Spyder and DBS Coupé courtesy of Zagato's lead designer Norihiko Harada.
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Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato (2016)
After a run of one-offs things returned to normal with the Vanquish Zagato, with 99 examples produced – all of which were sold before the car had even been unveiled. With bodywork co-designed by Aston's Marek Reichmann and Andrea Zagato, the Vanquish's interior got a make-over while the exterior featured a clean-sheet design with everything made of carbon fibre.
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Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato (2016)
The Zagato edition featured the same running gear as the regular Vanquish, but for this application the 5935cc V12 was breathed on to liberate a few extra horses. The final tally was 592bhp which allowed the Vanquish Zagato to go all the way to a claimed 199mph, despatching the 0-60mph sprint in just 3.5 seconds on the way.
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Aston Martin Zagato Vanquish Volante (2017)
Revealed at Pebble Beach in 2016, the Zagato Vanquish Volante was an open-topped version of the Vanquish Zagato that had made its debut the previous year at the Villa d'Este concours. Once again just 99 examples were available, with the new arrival sharing the same mechanicals as the coupé.
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Aston Martin Zagato Vanquish Volante (2017)
As with the other Vanquish models rebodied by Zagato (there are two more still to come…), the Volante featured dramatic 'bladed LED' tail lights as seen on Aston Martin's Vulcan hypercar, while the twin cowls on the rear deck blended into the leading edge of the boot to conceal a bespoke roof mechanism.
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Aston Martin Zagato Vanquish Speedster (2017)
Making its debut at Pebble Beach in 2017, the Zagato Vanquish Speedster was based on the Vanquish S, just like the coupé and Volante. That meant a 592bhp naturally aspirated V12 was fitted, which sent its power to the rear wheels via a Touchtronic III automatic transmission. There was no roof which meant no double-bubble design, but in place of this there was a cowling behind each of the two occupants.
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Aston Martin Zagato Vanquish Speedster (2017)
All of the various Vanquish-based Aston Martin Zagatos were very special, but the Speedster was by far the most expensive – and the most exclusive of all. Whereas the other models were priced at £525,000-£625,000 the Speedster was a hefty £925,000. The extra cash was paying for a much more limited production run with just 28 Speedsters made, with several owners opting for one of each of the four-Vanquish-based models introduced by Aston (there's still one more to come…).
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Aston Martin Zagato Vanquish Shooting Brake (2017)
Aston Martin and Zagato had a very busy year in 2017 because no fewer than three new cars were unveiled. Following hot on the heels of the Volante and Speedster was a Vanquish Shooting Brake, which once again was restricted to 325 examples.
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Aston Martin Zagato Vanquish Shooting Brake (2017)
One of the key selling points for many shooting brakes is the added practicality of four seats and an estate configuration, but the Vanquish Shooting Brake was strictly a two-seater, complete with a glass roof to bathe the cabin in natural light.
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Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato continuation (2019)
Things came full circle in 2018 when Aston Martin unveiled the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation, which wouldn't be road-legal as it was built purely for track use. Or more realistically, to sit in an owner's vault and never be seen in public. As with the original DB4 GT only 19 of the new cars would be made and they were priced at a massive £7.2 million, although that did include a very desirable sweetener…
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Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato (2019)
The sweetener that those DB4 GT Continuation buyers received was a second car called the DBS GT Zagato. Not only was it road-legal but it was also based on the 715bhp DBS Superleggera which meant a top speed of more than 210mph was on the cards.
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Aston Martin Vantage Zagato V12 Heritage (2019)
Having got a taste for doing But-One-Get-One-Free deals, Aston Martin tried the same tactic with its latest Zagato collaboration – the Vantage V12 Zagato Heritage. This time, in exchange for around £1.5 million, buyers got a uniquely styled coupé and speedster and once again just 19 pairs of these cars were available – and they had to be bought together.
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