An extensive, 50 off, one chance only supercar, the Aston Martin V8 Zagato had its place in the sun in the mid to late 1980s. it made headlines as the fastest Aston ever at 186 mph (298 km/h), and the company’s first two seater since the DB4 GT. Even at $70,000 each, the whole production run was sold before a single laid Zagato down like fine wine, putting them up for sale at anything up to half a million pounds each on the open market. Flat bottomed and flush glazed, it had a sleeker appearance than the standard Aston Martin Vantage, recording an impression 0.29Cd figure. It also weighed in 10 percent lighter, and had a more powerful 432 bhp version of the quad camshaft, 5.3 liter Vantage engine. Even today it is still in the slingshot league; a French motoring journal timed one at 186 mph (298 km/h), with a 0-60 mph (96 km/h) time of 4.8 seconds. Not everybody liked the Zagato’s shape. The double bubble roof seemed superfluous and the grille unresolved, flanked by mean headlights behind light diffusing glass. In profile, the awkward C-pillar dropped away to a truncated tail, where most of the length 16in. (40.6 cm) less than the standard V8 had been cut. The boot was tiny, but space lost to the sliced off rump was reclaimed behind the seats.
Just two month were built between 1986 and 1988, if you don’t count the prototype and a run of 25 convertibles. Orders worth $7 million were placed on the strength of just a stylish sketch, and once values started to rocket, Aston wasn’t above increasing the retail price to whatever the cars were realizing on the markets. When the investors’ market slumped in the late 1980s, many speculators lost thousands as the value of these cars halved almost overnight. Even so, the V8 Zagato remains one of the most collectable pot-war Aston Martins.
