Classic pearls of the future - Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake
05/14/2019
The term "Shooting Brake" refers to a body variant that combines a coupé with a hatchback. Usually equipped with rear doors, the Shooting Brake offers sportiness coupled with the practical benefit of an enlarged and easily accessible trunk.
Shooting Brakes were created as early as the 1950s and 1960s, the most famous of which are probably special bodies based on the Aston Martin DB5/6, but there were also production vehicles that used these body variants, such as the Reliant Scimitar or the Volvo P 1800 ES.
In modern times, the BMW Z3 Coupé, built between 1997 and 2002, is certainly one of the best-known representatives of the shooting brake design. The Z3 Coupé was based on the Roadster, which was introduced in the summer of 1995.
In their spare time, some BMW engineers further developed the open version into a coupé. The result of their activities, which had already been reported in the press in 1995, could then be admired at the IAA in Frankfurt in September 1997. And the car immediately caused a stir.
Because they wanted to stay as close as possible to the roadster for cost reasons, the coupé only differs from its open-top brother in the rear section. Instead of simply modeling a fixed hardtop, the BMW stylists opted for a shooting brake end, i.e. an almost upright tailgate. At the same time, they extended the cheeks slightly and gave the car an incredibly powerful appearance from behind.
In general, however, shooting brakes are very popular with collectors and car enthusiasts. Ferrari obviously wanted to follow this trend when building the "FF" and the successor GTC4 Lusso also has a steep rear end as a coupé.
The FF was built from 2011 to 2016 as a four-seater all-wheel-drive coupé, with 660 hp certainly not lacking in power. As with its predecessor, the GTC4Lusso is again powered by a naturally aspirated V12 engine, with an eight-cylinder turbo also being offered since 2017.
In May 2016, Zagato presented a typical Zagato design based on the Vanquish together with Aston Martin at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este. Shortly afterwards, variants in the form of a Volante, a Roadster and finally a Shooting Brake were shown.
With its plastic body and V12 with 580 hp, this sports estate is certainly one of the fastest cars. Above all, however, it looks breathtaking and nobody would doubt that they are looking at a true classic of the future.
Incidentally, the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake pictured here will go under the hammer at the Villa Erba auction by RM/Sotheby's on May 25, 2019.
