Rare Rides: A 2019 Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake, Questionable Bespoke Luxury

by Corey Lewis

Published: November 17th, 2020

rare rides a 2019 aston martin vanquish zagato shooting brake questionable bespoke

Today’s Rare Ride started out in life as an already very expensive Aston Martin Vanquish. Then it was reworked in a significant way by that Italian house of all things coupe, Zagato. Surprisingly, the Italians resisted painting it Rosso Corso Collezione or whatever, as its owner demanded a nice BRG-adjacent matte color.

Let’s check out this sports wagon shaped Aston Martin.

This Zagato edit will actually mark the second instance we’ve had a customized shooting brake Aston Martin on these pages. You may recall the first example of the type, a 1998 V8 Vantage customized in Switzerland. Today’s Vanquish rolled off the assembly line in 2018 and proceeded directly to the Zagato factory north of Milan. The second-gen Vanquish went on sale in 2012, after the model was absent from the brand’s lineup between 2008 and 2011. The original Vanquish was Aston’s modern take on a big, comfortable grand tourer, and when it debuted in 2001 it was the official replacement for the dated Vantage which went away after 2000.

The second Vanquish was a replacement for the outgoing 12-cylinder DBS and used many of its styling cues as expected. It also used some more exclusive design elements from the ludicrously expensive One-77 (a separate Rare Ride). Though it looked similar, the Vanquish rode on a new third generation of Aston’s VH platform, a chassis that debuted on the DB9 in 2004. VH version three used more carbon fiber than the second version, for additional lightness and strength. Vanquish was available from the factory with two seats, or as a more GT-like 2+2. Unlike the original Vanquish, this generation was also offered in convertible form.

Earlier examples of the Vanquish used the AM28 series (the Ford Duratec one) V12, of 5.9 liters in displacement. Later cars after 2014 switched to an AM29 version of the same engine. Transmissions were automatic only and had six speeds pre-2014, and eight speeds after.

Vanquish production ended in 2018, so today’s example was one of the last off the line, and titled as a 2019 after its modifications. As its customer requested, Zagato turned the brand new coupe into a shooting brake. They tossed the trunk in favor of an all-new hatchback design. Extensive changes were made to the side and rear windows, the roof, and the entire shape of the rear end. A flat cargo floor trimmed in leather was installed behind the seats, and accessed through the fairly narrow rear hatch area.

Up front, Zagato re-trimmed the already hand-trimmed seats and did so with a cream and black color scheme. Above passengers, a blue glass panel was inset into the full length of the roof, perhaps in the name of visual interest. Your author, though supportive of shooting brakes generally, finds these modifications reside on the bad side of questionable.

Today’s Rare Ride was registered in July 2019, and since that time it’s traveled 960 miles. The listing indicates the exterior shade is Xenon Grey, but come on. This green shooting brake is on sale presently in England for $724,817, which is about 2.5 times the cost of a standard one when new.

[Images: seller]

#AstonMartin #AstonMartinVanquish #AstonMartinVanquishZagato #BespokeCars #BritishCars #England #High-endCars #Italy #LuxuryCars #LuxuryCoupes #UsedCars #UK #NewCars #Zagato #ShootingBrake #SportsCars #Wagons #Vanquish #NewsBlog #RareRides

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

More by Corey Lewis

Comments

Join the conversation

3 of 13 comments

Cimarron typeR on Nov 17, 2020

I'm a fan too. My 1st Lotto car purchase would be a Panamera Sport Turismo.

Like Reply
- MRF 95 T-Bird on Nov 17, 2020
  
  I saw one the other day. It looked so much better than the what Jeremy Clarkson called the J-Lo butt Panamera.
  
  Like
KOKing on Nov 17, 2020

There were supposedly 99 of these made. I saw this particular one https://www.astonmartinnewportbeach.com/inventory/j54565 about a month ago in local traffic. The silver almost makes it blend in compared to this matte BRG example. I didn't think anything of it when I saw it in my mirrors, then it went by and... oh...

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Amwhalbi My 1972 Mercury Capri was my first stick shift car. God, I miss that thing. It was a blast to drive.
Vid169489471 The technology exists today to produce a variable color temperature (kelvin) LED lamp. It can vary from 2700k that soft orange look to 6500k the bright daylight with the bluish tint.Since everything in a late model car is computer controlled, it would be an easy task to write a few lines of code that enables your vehicle to not only dim down from hi to low beam but to shift color temp down to the 2700k range for oncoming traffic, then back up to 5000k once oncoming traffic has passed. For the operator it would be automatic and seamless. For older cars they could be retrofitted with LEDs that are 2700k on low beam and 5000k on hi beam. As far as standards, there could be a lumens max, and a minimum. Several States already have minimum lumen standards going back to the old incandescent bulbs. Why not update these to national standards.
Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
Art65765977 I saw a porsche 911 with the most amazing headlights from behind approaching the Sunshine skyway in Florida. The pattern was 108 degrees across sweeping the road like a broom. My brother and I were amazed. I don't know what it looked like from the front but i am sure it was better than American cars