Aston Martin V8 Zagato

Start with what the Aston Martin V8 Zagato is: a 2-door coupé / 2-door convertible with 5.3 L (5341 cc) V8, built from 1986 to 1990, in the age of turbocharging and the first electronic engine management. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Giuseppe Mittino at Zagato.

The background

The Aston Martin V8 Zagato is a grand tourer manufactured by Aston Martin. Just 52 examples of the coupé and 37 of the convertible were built between 1986 and 1990. The coupé was first unveiled at the 1986 Geneva Motor Show, and orders were quickly taken despite only showing the drawing of the car. The decision to build the later convertible was controversial – all 52 coupés had already been purchased at the height of the supercar speculation market and owners felt that producing additional cars would lower the value of the coupés. The convertibles consistently fetch higher prices than the roofed versions. As the name suggests, the V8 Zagato was based on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage but with a body by the coachbuilder Zagato. The design was an angular modern interpretation of the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato of the 1960s. The squared off grille was especially controversial. The Zagato was powered by a 430 bhp (321 kW; 436 PS) V8 engine with twin choke Weber carburettors. The all-alloy car could reach 300 km/h (186 mph). It was a luxurious car with a price tag of $156,600 at the time, but with the high rarity, and being released at the supercar price boom of 1987 to 1990, and by the end of the decade, cars were changing hands for £450,000. The later convertible sold for $171,000.

The comedian Rowan Atkinson purchased the first right-hand-drive car produced in 1998 and had it converted to Aston Martin Owners' Club racing series C2 specifications. He crashed it in July 2001 whilst competing at an enthusiasts' meeting, but walked away unhurt. The conversion was undertaken by Asto

The engineering

The engine is 5.3 L (5341 cc) V8. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.

Where it sits

In the Aston Martin line-up the Aston Martin V8 Zagato has a clear place: it replaced the Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato; it handed the line to the Aston Martin DB7 Zagato. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Jeep Wrangler, the BMW 5 Series, the Ferrari F40. Its Aston Martin stablemates include the Aston Martin Mark II and the Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3.

Owning one today

There is no federal ownership record for the Aston Martin V8 Zagato — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.