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Aston Martin reveals Vanquish Zagato Speedster, confirms Shooting Brake

Today is a big day for fans of Zagato-bodied Aston Martins. The company has revealed the production version of the Vanquish Zagato Volante (the gray car above), a soft-top version of the beautiful Vanquish Zagato Coupe. It has the same 580-horsepower V12 as every Vanquish Zagato has, as well as a customized interior covered in so many "Z"s you'd think it was actually an Aston Martin Zoro. It's in production now, but every example has already sold out. It isn't the only open air Zagato to be shown today, though. Aston announced it is expanding its line of limited production Vanquish Zagatos with a Speedster and an upcoming Shooting Brake. View 7 Photos The Speedster (the red car shown here) makes its full debut this week, and unsurprisingly it looks both gorgeous and very similar to the Zagato coupe, and especially the Zagato Volante convertible. The key difference is that this open-top Zagato has dual cowls finished in exposed carbon fiber that flow back from the seats. Zagato says these are reminiscent of the "double-bubble" roof the company is known for, but seeing as this is also a traditional speedster cue, it seems more like marketing serendipity. That doesn't make it less beautiful, of course. It's also the rarest example of the Vanquish Zagato, as only 28 examples will be built, while the Coupe, Volante, and Shooting Brake will each be made in batches of 99. Like the Volante, all Speedsters have been sold. There's yet one more Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato that hasn't entered production, and presumably hasn't sold out yet: the Shooting Brake. As one would expect from a car with the Shooting Brake moniker, it will be a sporty wagon. It will still be a two-seater, which means it should have an impressive amount of cargo space. That storage can be accessed via a powered hatch, and it can be filled with custom made luggage from Aston Martin. The long swooping roof also features the double-bubble design, and consists of plenty of glass to let in light. Though the car hasn't had a real-life reveal yet, Aston Martin has provided a rendering shown above to illustrate what it will look like. We're rather smitten with the look. We also expect to see the production car revealed next year when production begins. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante View 14 Photos Image Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Convertible Hatchback Wagon Luxury Supercars zagato aston martin vanquish aston martin vanquish zagato

Check out Aston Martin's zero-emissions AMR-SB race car

In the above video, Aston Martin reveals its AMR-SB race car. According to the chassis designer, it came at a time that was fairly busy, especially following the company's Le Mans class victory. But they saw it through, and the result is an amazingly light, zero-emissions race car. Aston was able to do this by powering it with the constantly present resource of gravity. Yes, it's a soapbox derby car. We appreciate car companies that have a sense of humor, and that's clearly what Aston demonstrates with this professional intro video for its soapbox racer. The company built it for the Red Bull Soapbox race in England, and it looks just like one of Aston Martin's Vantage GTE Le Mans racers, down to the wing on the back. That wing didn't seem to be attached quite as well as those on the real cars, since it disappears after one of the jumps. The car gets going more quickly than you might expect, too, as the video shows it hitting over 30 mph at a certain point. Check out the fun in the video above. You can also see the whole ride down from the driver's view in the video below. Related Video:

Maybach and Aston Martin alliance talks fall apart

If you have, like us, been salivating at the notion of a new generation of Maybach and Lagonda ultra-luxury crafts built by Aston Martin, we've got some bad news: According to reports emanating from Germany, talks between AML and Daimler have broken down.
The proposal under negotiation would have seen Daimler outsourcing production of the next family of Maybach models to Aston Martin, which in return would benefit from Mercedes-Benz platforms and engines - not only for its svelte GTs, but also for its own future Lagonda line of limousines and luxury SUVs. That, and a boatload of money - or at least that's what AML was reportedly seeking, an issue that served as the stumbling block over which the deal reportedly collapsed.
That's not to say the two parties couldn't still reach some sort of a compromise, but short of that, Daimler may opt to either shut down Maybach altogether, find another partner, or take another stab at building new models internally.