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Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato goes into limited production

Thanks to "unprecedented customer interest," Aston Martin has confirmed plans to build a limited production run of Vanquish Zagato coupes. Just 99 wealthy owners will get the privilege to park one of these beauties in their garage, and each will be built to order. Deliveries are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2017, so there may still be time to put in a request, should you have the means and the desire. The Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato debuted in concept form at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este at Lake Como, Italy in May 2016. We loved it then, and we still love it now. The entire body is hewn from carbon fiber, with a 6.0-liter V12 delivering 576 horsepower to the rear wheels. That's good enough for a 0-60 run of 3.5 seconds, though this Grand Touring car won't really be about racing any stopwatches. Aston says the Zagato's suspension will be specially tuned for "a unique GT experience," which we assume means more long-distance comfort than race track dominance. This is the fifth time Aston Martin has teamed up with Zagato, starting with the DB4 GT racecar in 1960. The last time the partnership bore vehicular fruit was in 2011, when the V12 Vantage Zagato was unveiled. Check out the high-resolution image gallery at the top to see the new Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato in all its bright-red glory. Related Video: Featured Gallery Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato View 19 Photos Design/Style Aston Martin Coupe Luxury Performance Supercars zagato aston martin vanquish aston martin vanquish zagato

Force India: 'Door still open' for Aston Martin partnership

Force India says a partnership that would bring Aston Martin back to Formula 1 remains a possibility for the future, despite talks last year failing to produce a deal. The Silverstone-based outfit had hoped to tie up a partnership with the British sportscar manufacturer for 2016, but in the end the discussions fell through. However, while the matter is off the table for this year, Force India's COO Otmar Szafnauer says his outfit is still hoping that it can resurrect the idea and bring Aston Martin on board for 2017. "I don't think the answer is no," Szafnauer told Motorsport.com. "It was just for 2016 we won't be collaborating. But we will have further discussions later on with Aston to see if there is a possibility for future years." Rules key Szafnauer said that the talks with Aston Martin had been "serious", but thinks that key to completing an agreement will be in F1 delivering a platform of rules that entices the manufacturer in. "For 2017 there is still a possibility and the door is still open," he said. "We will reconvene again and see if there is any possibility for the future. "There were just some decision-making points that were unknown at that time. And they just needed more time to see what the sport was doing about the engine and some other things. "They need to have some of those answers before they can make that decision of entering Formula 1 or not. And only time would give them those answers." When asked if finalized 2017 regulations would be a help, he said: "Well, that's one of the things. "So when those 2017 regulations are sorted out, everybody knows and then people can make decisions like: 'Do I like them or not?' "But if you're trying to guess what those are, than people say: 'Oh, let me wait and see.' That is exactly one of the reasons. To understand what the regulations are going to be in 2017." Related Video: This article by Jonathan Noble originally appeared on Motorsport.com, the world's leader in auto racing news, photos and video.

Tesla, European automaker may share Supercharger network [w/video]

Tesla Model S owners have had the now-500-plus Supercharger locations all to themselves since the free, high-speed charging network first opened up three years ago. The day may be coming when they'll have to start sharing, however. According to CEO Elon Musk, the company is "in talks with some manufacturers" about opening up its infrastructure to other autos. The mission statement of Tesla Motors is to "accelerate the advent of sustainable transport," and it can be argued that the success of its Model S is doing this, at least to some extent, by inspiring other automakers to build long-range electric vehicles themselves. Witness the Porsche Mission E concept and Audi E-Tron Quattro Concept as two recently unveiled examples. Sharing the Supercharger system is another way to speed things up. When EV owners of other marques want to take a trip, they may find themselves facing a hodge-podge of charging networks, each with slightly different standards, availability, and fees. Supercharging for free at well-mapped and easily accessible locations can only make things easier, and Musk has long said he would like other companies to make use of the network. With some manufacturers declaring allegiance to the CHAdeMO and others, the SAE Combo system, it seemed like Tesla might not get any takers, but finally it may be getting traction. Musk mentioned the development on at least two different occasions recently at speaking engagements in Berlin: once in a morning discussion, and later during a larger meeting with the German Minister of Economy & Energy, Sigmar Gabriel. While in the first instance, Musk used the plural "manufacturers," indicating there may be discussions with more than one firm, the second mention might be more relevant to the near term. In that case, while answering a question about sharing the Superchargers, he stated that "the CEO of one European car company, not a German car company, has approached us recently about doing exactly that, and we're super supportive of anyone who wants to do that." The question now becomes, "who will be the first to use the Tesla high-speed network?" With the specific mention of a European company, and the exclusion of German ones, our best guess is Aston Martin. Its CEO Andy Palmer is quite bullish on electric vehicles and the iconic British brand already has a test mule for an 800-hp electric Rapide on the road, not to mention its fabulous DBX under development.