Exotics of Hong Kong
Aston Martin V12 Zagato
When Morgan and I began car spotting in December 2015, there was one car that we desperately wanted to tick off our list; the Aston Martin V12 Zagato. For months, we kept seeing photos of it being posted online but somehow never saw it. Finally, when attending the Gold Coast Motor Festival in October, we were lucky enough to be graced with its presence (among a whole bunch of other exotic and classic cars), and spent a good half an hour checking it out, wondering if we were ever going to see it on the road. A week later, we went down to Big Wave Bay and to our surprise, it was there. We hastily jumped out of the taxi and ran over to where it was parked and admired it non-stop until other cars arrived. Since October, we have seen the V12 Zagato almost every week, and we’re still not bored of it.
Zagato is an Italian automotive and design company founded by Ugo Zagato, who worked in the aircraft industry before he started his own coachbuilding company in 1919. Zagato specialises in light-weight metal construction, which Zagato learnt while he was working with airplanes. After a few years, the company started to grow a reputation for creating lightweight and aerodynamic sport cars, and the automotive industry began to take notice. The first car company to partner with Zagato was Alfa Romeo, resulting in the Alfa Romeo G1. Over the years, Zagato has collaborated with some of the most well-known car brands in the world, such as Aston Martin, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Jaguar, Maserati, and Alfa Romeo, to name a few.
On the 50th anniversary of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato – the first collaboration between Aston Martin and Zagato – the Aston Martin V12 Zagato was born. This car is based on the V12 Vantage so it still has 5.9-litre V12 engine that produces 510bhp and can send the car up to 305kph. The V12 Zagato is around 100kg lighter than the Vantage thanks to the handcrafted aluminum and carbon fibre body. Only 150 V12 Zagatos will be produced worldwide. The V12 Zagato I mentioned above is the only one in Hong Kong with a one-off paint job, which is why we were so excited to see it. Well, one of the reasons; we were also just excited to see such a beautifully engineered car. It never fails to bring a smile to our faces.
To see more photos, check out the Instagram page Morgan and I share: www.instagram.com/exoticsofhongkong
