Aston Martin Zagato special editions revealed

Aston Martin has revealed two new special edition cars designed by Italian coachbuilder Zagato. The two cars were unveiled at Aston’s centenary celebration event, held in London’s Kensington Gardens.

Like previous Zagato-bodied Astons, the two cars combine the Italian design house’s signature flair combined with Aston Martin mechanicals. In this case, the cars are based on the DB9 Volante and outgoing DBS coupe.

• Aston Martin reviews

The two cars, named the DB9 Spyder Zagato and DBS Coupe Zagato Centennial, were commissioned to celebrate Aston Martin’s 100th birthday and are one-offs only, with no limited production run planned – unlike 2002’s DB7 Zagato, of which 100 were made.

The DB9 Spyder is destined for American collector Peter Read, while the DBS Zagato will go to an anonymous Aston enthusiast in Japan.

The DBS Zagato features the designer’s signature double-bubble roof, while the DBS’ low-slung nose is replaced by a more upright, retro design. The car rides on the DBS’ 20-inch alloys, and uses the same carbon-ceramic brakes.

The DBS Zagato is also believed to run on standard DBS mechanicals, meaning a 6.0-litre V12 developing 510bhp in the front that powers the rear wheels.

The DB9 Spyder has similar front and rear-end styling to the DBS Zagato, but with the double-bubble roof replaced by a folding soft-top. The car features the same interior as the DB9 Volante on which it’s based, and also uses the same 510bhp 6.0-litre V12.

The new Zagato Aston Martins were revealed at one of the firm’s 100th anniversary celebration events. Aston is having a year of special events to celebrate its birthday, including having parades at Le Mans and the Nurburgring 24-hour race.

This event was held in Kensington Gardens in London, and brought together a host of new and old Astons. In addition to the new Zagato models, the three Bertone Jet one-offs were present.