Both Aston Martin V12 Zagato’s that were entered into the Nurburgring 24-hour race survived, to give Aston a 100% finish record at the race. These cars has been developed through centuries of evolution as they took the original 1960’s DB4 GT Zagatos as inspiration.
Aston Martin raced two V12 Zagatos and four Aston Martin V8 Vantage’s in the Nürburgring 24 Hours endurance race. The number 5 V12 Zagato took 5th place in the SP8 class while the number 3 V12 Zagato finishing 6th. Zig and Zag, as the cars are nicknamed, covered more than 230 laps between them for a total of 3,700 miles.
The car is based on the V12 Vantage and it features a handcrafted aluminium body with a 6.0 litre V12 engine. When seen next to the original 1960’s Zagato they look from different ages although design aspects still remain, the gently sloping roof and bold muscular angles are apparent on both cars.
Aston Martin will now produce a number of V12 Zatago for road production. The car has already won an elegance award in the “Concept Cars and Prototypes” category, at the Villa d’Este.
The CEO of Aston Martin Dr Ulrich Bez said: “All our cars finished today, and two out of the three customer teams also crossed the line. This includes two brand new cars which we launched only four weeks ago. With a little more luck we could have finished higher up the order, but finishing first wasn’t the goal, we aimed to have the cars running at the end – I am really pleased with the team who did such a great job keeping the cars running throughout.”
Many will agree that this car is the definitive expression of Aston Martin’s values. In this new car they have built one of the highest performance models and a piece of automotive art for a select clientele.
Dr Ulrich Bez: “Fifty years ago Italian design houses were widely seen as leading the way with new designs but now and supported by our independency. Matching the technology of the age with the traditional skills vital to deliver such a bespoke and exclusive sports car will lead to a strictly limited run of road going V12 Zagatos.”
Aston Martin V12 Zagato Endurance Race Car Specification:
Engine:
All alloy quad overhead cam 48 valve 5935cc V12
Compression ratio 10.9:1
Front mid-mounted engine, rear wheel drive
Transmission:
Rear mid-mounted, six-speed automated manual gearbox with auto shift manual/select shift manual (ASM/SSM) electric hydraulic control system.
