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Zagato reveals custom Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake

Of all the pan-European collaborations, the decades-old partnership between Aston Martin and Zagato is among our favorites. It's a tie-in that dates back to the DB4 GT from 1960 and has materialized in numerous forms over the years since. What you see here is the latest. Unveiled today at the Chantilly Art & Elegance show in France, the Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake Zagato follows in the same style as the DBS Coupe Zagato Centennial and the DB9 Spider Zagato Centennial one-offs revealed last year as part of Aston's 100th anniversary celebrations. It adopts a similar rectangular style to the previous two examples, but reinterpreted in a classic, low-slung, three-door wagon form to celebrate Zagato's 95th birthday. Completing the trilogy, this coachbuilt custom is based on the Virage model that itself was based on the DB9 and slotted in below the DBS until being discontinued two years ago. The atelier didn't reveal much in the way of technical details, but its underpinnings suggest it's powered by Aston's long-serving 6.0-liter V12 with 490 horsepower. Whereas the previous models were commissioned by American and Japanese collectors, the Shooting Brake was built for a European customer. This shooting brake follows in a long line of Zagato-bodied Astons including the aforementioned DB4 GT, the 1986 V8 Vantage Zagato and V8 Volante Zagato, the 2002 DB7 Zagato, the one-off 2004 Vanquish Roadster and the 2011 V12 Zagato. Scope out the latest in the quartet of images in the gallery above and the press release below. ZAGATO ATELIER ANNOUNCES THE WORLD DEBUT OF THE ASTON MARTIN VIRAGE SHOOTING BRAKE ZAGATO AT THE CHANTILLY ARTS & ELEGANCE CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE Chantilly, France (7 September, 2014) – For Zagato, 2014 is a very important year. It commemorates 95 years of continuous activity, innovative design and three generations of Zagato family leadership. Following the world debut of the Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, Zagato Atelier continues celebrating its 95th anniversary with the grand debut of the Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake Zagato at the Chantilly Art & Elegance. This mark's Zagato's second world premiere in 2014. This one-of-a-kind car was commissioned by a European client who desired an atelier-level, collectible modern car.

The Aston Martin Vulcan is bound for the Big Apple

Following its global debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show, Aston Martin has announced that the Vulcan, its 800-horsepower track monster, will make its US debut at next week's New York Auto Show. According to Aston Martin, the Vulcan will lead what is for the brand, a huge display of seven cars, including the Vanquish Carbon Black, Vantage GT Roadster, Rapide S and DB9. "We are enormously encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive reaction we have received from customers and sports car fans around the world in response to the Aston Martin Vulcan," Aston boss Andy Palmer said in the attached statement. "I'm delighted that after a debut in Geneva we are able to bring the car to our North American audience, underlining the importance of this market to our business and its role in delivering our Second Century business plan." Be sure to check back next week for our exhaustive coverage from NYC. Until then, scroll down for the official press release from Aston Martin, and check out our full coverage of the Vulcan's original debut in Geneva. NEW ASTON MARTIN VULCAN SET FOR NORTH AMERICAN DEBUT IN NEW YORK • North American reveal at NYIAS for limited edition, track-only, 7.0-litre V12 supercar • The Aston Martin Vulcan fronts new seven-car Aston Martin display in New York 26 March, 2015, Irvine CA – Aston Martin's most intense and exhilarating creation to date will make its first appearance in North America at the New York International Auto Show (NYIAS) next month. The Aston Martin Vulcan – a track only supercar producing some 800-plus bhp – joins the British luxury sports car maker's presence at NYIAS fresh from a global reveal at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier in March. Fronting a new seven-car display led by CEO Dr Andy Palmer, the Aston Martin Vulcan will be joined by examples from the current Aston Martin product range in North America including the new Vanquish Carbon, Rapide S, DB9, V12 Vantage S and the V8 Vantage GT Roadster. CEO, Dr Andy Palmer commented: "We are enormously encouraged by the overwhelmingly positive reaction we have received from customers and sports car fans around the world in response to the Aston Martin Vulcan.

Kahn Vengeance has Aston Martin's blessing [UPDATE]

Last week we brought you the first renderings of a coachbuilt Aston Martin DB9 called the Vengeance that's being developed by Kahn Design. The emergence of the project raised a valid question: if Aston Martin quashed a similar venture by Henrik Fisker, wouldn't the Kahn Vengeance suffer a similar fate? Not according to Kahn. In a statement released to the press, company spokesman Mo Bhana said that "unlike the David Brown Speedback GT and recent Fisker Thunderbolt that ended in a lawsuit, there are no copyright issues with the Vengeance since Aston Martin has confirmed they have entered into a supply deal with us." The incidents Bhana refers to are over two coachbuilder projects that have come up recently and which have drawn the ire of Gaydon. The first is the Speedback GT developed by David Brown Automotive and assembled by a British coachbuilder called Envisage. The latter company also supplies parts and tooling to Aston Martin, which sued Envisage over concerns that its designs were being misappropriated. Given the resemblance of the Speedback to certain classic Astons, and the use of the name David Brown (which happens to be shared by the Speedback's patron and a key figure from Aston's history), reports began circulating that Aston was suing Envisage over the Speedback project, however David Brown Automotive refuted the allegations. The second was Project Thunderbolt, a rebodied Vanquish designed by Henrik Fisker – the same Danish designer who penned the DB9 and V8 Vantage while serving as Aston's design director before striking out on his own. Despite the former association, Aston objected to Fisker's project, launched a lawsuit against him and only agreed to drop it after Fisker agreed not to produce the Thunderbolt. Given Aston's track record, fearing that it would go down the same path would seem reasonable, but Kahn apparently doesn't expect any such difficulties with its supplier. And the company does, after all, also have a history of collaborating with coachbuilders - most notably Zagato. We've reached out to Aston Martin itself for confirmation and will update you as soon as we hear back. In the meantime, you can ponder the second set of renderings released and which we've included above.