Feast, children. Feast your eyes on the new Aston Martin V12 Zagato. The product of a reborn partnership between the British sportscar-maker and the Milanese design house that goes back fifty years, the V12 Zagato has just been revealed on its way to the Concorso d’Eleganza at Villa d’Este on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como. And man, does it look the business.

Just over a week ago we brought you initial news of the collaboration in the making, retracing half a century of collaboration between Aston Martin and Zagato with a new project based on the V12 Vantage. Now fully revealed, the design blends some familiar queues with fresh lines. Zagato’s signature double-bubble roof (initially adopted to offer extra headroom for a racer’s helmet) is there, while the grille recalls that of the classic DB4 GT from which this car draws its inspiration. The flank recalls the taut muscularity of the Vanquish, punctuated by a large vent from which protrude a silver dash and the Zagato logo. The tail-light treatment is similar to that of the Ferrari FF‘s, sitting above a large rear diffuser assembly.

All in all it cuts a striking profile rendered in aluminum, jointly penned by Zagato and Aston’s own design department. Its deep shade of orange (similar to the Lamborghini Aventador show car) compliments the baby blue of the V12 Vantage RS concept that previewed the car on which it’s based to recall the iconic Gulf livery which the marque revived in its racing program.

The show car you see here represents something of a mid-point between the race and road variants that will ensue, packing, for example, street-spec rolling stock but a stripped-out race cockpit. The concept’s engine is unchanged from the V12 Vantage road car – Aston says it is gauging public reaction before announcing production plans, but something tells us they’ve already decided. A full-on racing version is set to take on the Nürburgring 24, but whether this will form the new GT3-spec V12 Vantage announced a month ago remains to be seen. Follow the jump for the full press blast and be sure to check out the images in our high-resolution gallery for a closer look.

Continue reading Aston Martin unwraps new V12 Zagato en route to Villa d’Este

Aston Martin unwraps new V12 Zagato en route to Villa d’Este originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 20 May 2011 05:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Like so many “concepts” from BMW, the 6 Series Coupe bound for the Paris Motor Show is a concept in name alone. What you’re looking at is BMW’s next GT, and even a cursory glance proves that the Bangleization of BMW is officially over.

Set to be based on the 5 Series’ underpinnings and taking several cues from the Grand Coupe concept shown in Beijing, the next BMW 6 Series takes the brand’s new upright grille, frames it with a set of full-LED headlamps and than caps things off with a more contoured rump. We’re not going to pass judgement on the design until we see it in person, but like the last 6er, this new GT appears to be a love it or loathe it affair.

On the contrary, the interior is an airy, organic environment, complete with an asymmetrical center console tilted towards the driver, a new navigation display and a host of aluminum and leather accents that are several steps beyond what’s currently on offer from BMW. We’re particularly digging the redesigned steering wheel and the waterfall of material that connects the dash to the transmission tunnel.

BMW isn’t giving up specifics on dimensions or engines – this is a “concept” after all – but expect the 2012 BMW 6 Series to be slightly lower and marginally wider than the current model. Power will be supplied by BMW’s current array of naturally aspirated and turbocharged inline sixes, with the next M6 outputting over 550 horsepower from its twin-turbocharged 4.4-liter V8. The standard 6 should be in showroom early next year, with the M6 to arriving in late 2012 and the soft-top due out in late 2011.

Source: BMW

Paris Preview: BMW unwraps 6 Series Coupe Concept originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 18 Sep 2010 20:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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