What's the news?
If you recall just a few short months back, we told you about the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato, a beautifully restyled version of the British manufacturer's flagship courtesy of the Italian coachbuilding house. Just 99 are being made, they're going to cost an absolute fortune and deliveries commence in early 2017.
Well, to go alongside that - and because the Zagato Coupé is debuting in North America at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance - Aston is making another 99 cars, although this time they're open-tops. This is the Vanquish Zagato Volante, and isn't it quite stunning?
It's the latest in an elite line of Aston Martin Zagato convertibles, including the V8 Vantage Volante shown at Geneva in 1987 and the DB AR1 of 2003 - this latter vehicle also had a 99-unit build run and was designed primarily for the North American market.
Pretty much all of the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante is identical to its hard-topped sibling: there are the same glorious rear lights, the same resculpted bodywork, the same high-class interior with a Z-pattern quilt stitch logo, and the same uprated version of the 6.0-litre V12, here delivering 600hp. What's changed, of course, is that now you can open the Zagato up to the elements and underneath that twin-cowled rear deck is a bespoke folding hood derived from the mechanism used in the 'regular' Aston Martin Vanquish Volante.
Also like the super-exclusive Vanquish Zagato Coupé, customer deliveries of the 99 Volantes begin in 2017.
Anything else?
"Just like the Coupé, we have emphasised the way surfaces change and intersect to create a muscular form," said Aston's Marek Reichman, EVP and chief creative officer. "We've endeavoured to create an elegant, flowing shape that really works to emphasise the car's sculpted rear haunches.
"The Vanquish Zagato Volante illustrates the ways in which Aston Martin design can evolve in collaboration with such a trusted and long-standing partner. Vanquish Zagato Volante continues Aston Martin's new century of innovation and creativity, strengthening the association between these great automotive marques in the process."