Zagato Ruins Everything They Touch. Or Do They?

The coachbuilder molded a full carbon-fiber body around the 576-horsepower 6.0-liter V12, and included a few of their signature design details, such as the Kamm tail, round taillights and wide front grille with a “Z” styled mesh. Only 99 examples will be built, with deliveries expected to start early in 2017.

When Zagato reworks a car as they see fit, no matter the public’s opinion, it’s usually a one-off. But after the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato was unveiled to the public at this year’s Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este, Aston says there was an “unprecedented customer request,” and made the call to put the Vanquish V12 Zagato into production.

However, our own Manager of Photography Henry Phillips thinks that’s 99 too many. When the news broke, the discussion around the new Aston Zagato in the office chatroom went from opining on the new car to calling Zagato’s entire portfolio into question. Our Editor in Chief Eric Yang weighed in, Associate Editor Nick Caruso had a few things to say, as did I. We thought it was a conversation worth opening up to you, our readers.

HP: Someone needs to let Zagato know everything they touch turns out ugly.

EY: I think Zagato has one hit for every two misses.

NC: I’d make the case that the new Zagato isn’t ugly so much as it’s an even blend of an Aston, Shelby GT350, F-Type and GT-R (the seat upholstery is godawful though).

HP: Front end looks like they got bored halfway through. And the upholstery is part of them ruining it. Little things count.

NC: The front end is their trademark; I’m not mad at it.

HP: I dunno man, I think it’s a stretch to say the car is better looking than the original Vanquish. Also, inspired by the hilarious iPhone lawsuit in Beijing. A visual survey of Chinese photocopy cars, like the LandWind X7.

The original, un-“Zagatoed” Aston Martin Vanquish. Photo: Aston Martin.

NC: I didn’t say it was better looking than the Vanquish.

HP: That’s my point though: Zagato ruins cars. Or at least beats them with an ugly stick.

BC: False. The the Z4 Zagato is undeniably beautiful. The Aston looks good from certain angles but, yeah, something about the wide shots makes it look like there were too many cooks in the kitchen — but, like, award-winning cooks. And then they got Gas Monkey Garage to do theswiss patek philippe replica watches interior.

The Z4 Zagato (2012)

HP: Kamm tail, Breadwagon. I get it. But it looks like an angry catfish.

The Viper-based Zagato Alfa Romeo TZ3 Stradale (2011)

BC: Pictured: Not an angry catfish.

BC: And aside from the Aston’s interior, what else have they ruined? And the Zagato Volpe is void in the argument; there’s no way that car could have been anything but shit.

The… stylized interior of the new Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato.

HP: What cars haven’t they ruined? The Aston is worse-looking. The Z4 is worse-looking. Zagatos are only intriguing because they’re different than the production version.

BC: Yeah, Zagatos can be intriguing and different but that’s far from “ruined.”

HP: Case and point: Zagato FZ93. It’s based on a Ferrari Testarossa.

The Zagato FZ93 (1993).

BC: You win.

HP: The fact that somehow they got the Aston into production is actually incredible. They just try to fix things that aren’t broken — they don’t improve on anything. That’s what makes them a shitty coachbuilder.