Aston Martin V12 Zagato
Encyclopedia
The Aston Martin V12 Zagato is an endurance racing concept car made by Aston Martin
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Limited is a British manufacturer of luxury sports cars, based in Gaydon, Warwickshire. The company name is derived from the name of one of the company's founders, Lionel Martin, and from the Aston Hill speed hillclimb near Aston Clinton in Buckinghamshire...

 in collaboration with Zagato
Zagato
Zagato is a design consultancy and engineering services company situated just outside Milan, Italy.The company's premises occupy an area of , of which are covered....

 to celebrate a 50 year partnership since the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato
Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato
The Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato was introduced in October 1960 at the London Motor Show. It was effectively a DB4 GT, lightened and improved by the Zagato factory in Italy, by Ercole Spada. Initially the factory had plans to produce 25 cars, but demand wasn't as strong as expected and production...

. Introduced in Lake Como, Italy at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este
Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este
Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este is a renowned elegance competition for classic and vintage cars. It has taken place every year since 1929 during the last weekend of April in Villa d'Este on the shores of Lake Como, Italy...

 on 21 May 2011, the Zagato was awarded with the competition's "Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes" which has also been won by the One-77 in 2009.

Like the Aston Martin V12 Vantage on which it is based, the V12 Zagato is powered by a 6.0 L V12 engine with 510 bhp (380 kW / 517 PS), and 570 Nm (420 lb ft) of torque.

Design

Designed at the Aston Martin Design Studios in Gaydon, the concept features a new handcrafted aluminium body with a front similar to the one of the Vantage and a heavily modified middle, roof and rear section uniting both of the companys design DNAs. Another extra is the endurance racing fuel tank carrying up to 120 litres of fuel.

Production

Following a large interest by customers Aston Martin announced they would build a homologated version of the car, producing only a limited run of 150 at the Aston Martin headquarter in Gaydon. Starting delivery in the second half of 2012 the Zagato will be priced at around £330,000 excluding local taxes.

2011

The Aston Martin V12 Zagato made its racing debut at the 53rd ADAC
ADAC
The ADAC is Germany's and Europe's largest automobile club, with more than 17 million members in June 2010. It was founded on May 24, 1903 as "Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung" and was renamed in 1911...

 ACAS H&R-Cup VLN
VLN
The VLN, properly the Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a ten-race series held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the "VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring"...

 round at the Nürburgring on 28 May. The event for the car being a preperation and development experience ahead of the Nürburgring 24-hour race, to be held over the 25 - 26 June.

Two V12 Zagatos competed in the 51st ADAC
ADAC
The ADAC is Germany's and Europe's largest automobile club, with more than 17 million members in June 2010. It was founded on May 24, 1903 as "Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung" and was renamed in 1911...

 Reinoldus-Langstreckenrennen VLN
VLN
The VLN, properly the Veranstaltergemeinschaft Langstreckenpokal Nürburgring is an organisation of motorsport clubs of which each hosts one event of a ten-race series held on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, the "VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring"...

 four-hour race on the 11th June. Again as a test session ahead of the Nürburgring 24-hour race. Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr. Ulrich Bez lead the driver team joined by the company's Nürburgring Test Centre Director, Wolfgang Schuhbauer plus experienced amateur racer Peter Cate in the first of the two V12 Zagato's. The sister car was driven by One-77
Aston Martin One-77
The Aston Martin One-77 is a two-door coupé built by Aston Martin.It first appeared at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, although the car remained mostly covered by a "Savile Row tailored skirt" throughout the show, before being fully revealed at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show.There was a limited run of 77...

 Chief Engineer Chris Porritt, experienced sports car driver Oliver Mathai and automotive journalist Richard Meaden. Competing in the SP8 category, the V12 Zagatos; near production standard cars with only essential safety and aerodynamic modifications required for racing, took 2nd and 3rd place in class, equating to 15th and 39th overall in field of some 150 largely specialist cars.

The two V12 Zagatos affectionately nicknamed ‘Zig' (green car) and ‘Zag' (red car) competed in the 39th ADAC
ADAC
The ADAC is Germany's and Europe's largest automobile club, with more than 17 million members in June 2010. It was founded on May 24, 1903 as "Deutsche Motorradfahrer-Vereinigung" and was renamed in 1911...

 Nürburgring 24-hour race, held over the 25 - 26 June. The two factory backed cars both completed the race, finishing 5th and 6th in the SP8 class.

The red car also sprinted at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, commonly abbreviated as FoS and referred within the United Kingdom as simply the Festival of Speed, is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England.Typically held in late June or...

2011 over the 1 - 3 July. Driven by Aston Martin head designer, Marek Reichman, the car recorded a best time of 61.21 to finish 15th in the overall shootout.

On October 17th 'Zig' was part of a colaboration between Aston Martin and Toyoda at the VLN9 DMV 250-Meilen-Rennen. During the race drivers of both the V12 Zagato and Lexus LF A which included the CEO of Aston Martin and President of Toyota had an opportunity to drive both cars.

External links

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