Well, that didn’t take long.
Just over a month ago I waxed rhapsodic about the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Concept. I couldn’t say enough about the sheer sexiness of such an instantly classic Zagato design. For me, it had all the qualities necessary to leave me quivering like a 14-year-old boy after his first good kiss from the homecoming queen.
At the time Aston Martin said they were just testing the waters of interest with a concept, but we all knew that wouldn’t be the last we heard of it. The concept was too spectacular and intriguing to be relegated to a museum floor.
There was such a clamor from collectors pining for the enthralling beast that Aston waited only a month to decide that they may as well go ahead and produce 99 copies of it in all its carbon fiber glory. Can you hear that sound? That’s the sound of automotive lovers everywhere rejoicing.
While Aston Martin is being a bit coy about how much of the concept will become reality, instead noting that the production car “will be closely related to the concept exhibited at Villa d’Este.” That’s fine, because if it’s anything close to the concept it will be a big tick in the win column for the manufacturer. There’s nothing I would change other than the round foglights obtrusively placed in the shapely grille. No word so far, but it’s my bet that they will most likely be staying.
They have released the horsepower numbers, though, and they’re impressive. By massaging the Vanquish’s already-monstrous 568-hp engine, they’ve manage to bump output to just under 600 horses. That should work just fine in motivating this bit of sculpture down the road.
All 99 cars will be built to order at Aston’s factory in Gaydon, England, and should start hitting the road in the first few months of 2017.
