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Zagato reveals custom Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake

Of all the pan-European collaborations, the decades-old partnership between Aston Martin and Zagato is among our favorites. It's a tie-in that dates back to the DB4 GT from 1960 and has materialized in numerous forms over the years since. What you see here is the latest. Unveiled today at the Chantilly Art & Elegance show in France, the Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake Zagato follows in the same style as the DBS Coupe Zagato Centennial and the DB9 Spider Zagato Centennial one-offs revealed last year as part of Aston's 100th anniversary celebrations. It adopts a similar rectangular style to the previous two examples, but reinterpreted in a classic, low-slung, three-door wagon form to celebrate Zagato's 95th birthday. Completing the trilogy, this coachbuilt custom is based on the Virage model that itself was based on the DB9 and slotted in below the DBS until being discontinued two years ago. The atelier didn't reveal much in the way of technical details, but its underpinnings suggest it's powered by Aston's long-serving 6.0-liter V12 with 490 horsepower. Whereas the previous models were commissioned by American and Japanese collectors, the Shooting Brake was built for a European customer. This shooting brake follows in a long line of Zagato-bodied Astons including the aforementioned DB4 GT, the 1986 V8 Vantage Zagato and V8 Volante Zagato, the 2002 DB7 Zagato, the one-off 2004 Vanquish Roadster and the 2011 V12 Zagato. Scope out the latest in the quartet of images in the gallery above and the press release below. ZAGATO ATELIER ANNOUNCES THE WORLD DEBUT OF THE ASTON MARTIN VIRAGE SHOOTING BRAKE ZAGATO AT THE CHANTILLY ARTS & ELEGANCE CONCOURS D'ELEGANCE Chantilly, France (7 September, 2014) – For Zagato, 2014 is a very important year. It commemorates 95 years of continuous activity, innovative design and three generations of Zagato family leadership. Following the world debut of the Lamborghini 5-95 Zagato at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este, Zagato Atelier continues celebrating its 95th anniversary with the grand debut of the Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake Zagato at the Chantilly Art & Elegance. This mark's Zagato's second world premiere in 2014. This one-of-a-kind car was commissioned by a European client who desired an atelier-level, collectible modern car.

Cash influx could help Aston Martin double sales

Aston Martin is on the verge of a major product overhaul – complete with new architecture and powertrains. And good thing, considering that the Vantage and DB9 are each about a decade old. But to make it all happen, the British automaker is going to need a massive capital influx. Fortunately, that's just what it got when Investindustrial came on board. The Italian private equity fund, which previously owned a large chunk of Ducati and is now building a Ferrari theme park in Spain, bought a 37.5 percent stake in Aston Martin back in 2012. The acquisition reportedly cost Investindustrial the better part of a quarter billion dollars, but that's not the end of the firm's investment in Aston. According to Bloomberg, Investindustrial is now pouring even more into the Gaydon-based marque to help fund its product blitz. The output of that investment is expected to be announced at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. That's where Aston's new chief executive Andy Palmer (whom Investindustrial reportedly helped poach from Nissan) is tipped to announce the company's new product plan that is earmarked to help double the company's sales from around 4,000 units last year to as many as 8,000 once those new products reach the market. The plan will assuredly include replacements for Aston's trademark luxury GTs, but could also encompass a new crossover utility vehicle to give it a greater foothold in growing markets like China while taking on similar new products from key rivals like Bentley and Maserati. While those two competitors are owned by larger auto groups – Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler, respectively – Aston is independent. It's brokered a deal with Mercedes (thanks once again in no small part to Investindustrial) to help with components it can't effectively develop in-house, but the cash injection will be critical to the brand's revival plans.

Aston Martin DB11 arrives with 600 horsepower, stunning design

The drapes have been removed from the new DB11, billed by Andy Palmer, Aston Martin's chief executive, as "not only the most important car that Aston Martin has launched in recent history, but also in its 103-year existence." Well, they all are, Andy. Aston Martin is such a small company that it bets the farm with each new model. That's part of its appeal, for Aston's one constant is the svelte beauty of its cars, which (lest we forget) are the company wheels for one Commander James Bond. So the DB11 is important, make no mistake. It goes on sale this autumn and will cost $211,995 in the US. It's the tenth car (there was no DB8) in a lineage that began in 1948 with the DB1 – the first car to bear the initials of then owner, David Brown. Just 15 DB1s were made, but the DB line has been the most successful model for Aston Martin over the years, including such cars as the DB5 and DB7 as well as the 2003 DB9, which was the last all-new Aston Martin. This totally new DB11 is a clean-sheet approach from design director Marek Reichman, with a new aluminum bodyshell, suspension, cabin, and a Mercedes-Benz-based electronic architecture, which runs the systems. View 24 Photos To save fuel the engine will close down one bank and run as a 2.6-liter straight-six when the extra power is not required. The heart is a brand-new, 5.2-liter V12 boosted with two Mitsubishi Heavy Industries twin-scroll turbochargers with water-to-air inlet-charge coolers. It punches out 600 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and 516 pound-feet of torque from 1,500 rpm. Maximum speed is said to be 200 miles per hour with 0-62 acceleration in 3.9 seconds. The new engine drives the rear wheels via a ZF eight-speed automatic transmission and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Aston moved from the previous 6.0-liter naturally aspirated unit to a 5.2-liter biturbo to improve the part-load efficiency and EPA fuel economy figures. "In downsizing we want the emissions and we want the economy, but more than those, we want the torque," says Ian Minards, director of product development. To save fuel the engine will close down one bank and run as a 2.6-liter straight-six when the extra power is not required, but to prevent the exhaust catalyst from overcooling, the electronics switch between two banks. "It's undetectable," says Minards. Minards' team spent three years creating this car. "It's been a little bit daunting," he says.