• Zagato unveils Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake

    September 8, 2014

    Italian design house Zagato Atelier was at the Chantilly Art & Elegance Concours D’Elegance today to release the Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake. The car was commissioned by an unnamed European client and will be a one-off example.

    The base car appears to be 2011-12 Aston Martin Virage, a short-lived 2+2 that slotted in between the DB9 and DBS. Though Zagato did not specify any drivetrain details, it’s likely that the shooting brake is powered by the Virage’s 6.0-liter, 490hp V12.

    Zagato says that it contains design cues of the Aston Martin V8 Vantage and mid-80s Volante. It also claims that the new car completes a trilogy celebrating Aston Martin’s 100th anniversary, which it began last year with the DB9 Spider Zagato Centennial and DBS Coupe Zagato Centennial. Incidentally, the coachbuilder says it also finishes the trio of famous Aston body styles — Coupe, Spider, and Shooting Brake.

    Zagato has a long history of rescultping Aston Martin bodies, one that began in 1960 with the DB4GT. Only 19 of the lightweight high-performance versions were built. Over the decades, the Italian design house worked their styling flair on several more British machines, including the V8 Vantage Zagato and V8 Volante Zagato of the 1980s, 2003 DB7 Zagato, 2004 Vanquish Roadster and 2011 Aston Martin V12 Zagato.

    This is the second premiere for Zagato this year, following the Lamborghini 5-95.

  • Aston Martin releases official images of Middle East-only Lagonda

    September 8, 2014
    Aston Martin has published several more official images of the upcoming ultra-luxurious Lagonda sedan. The pictures were taken as a pre-production model was in Oman for final testing.

    Reviving a nameplate used by Aston from 1976 to 1990, the 21st century Lagonda features a boxy, elongated silhouette that pays an unmistakable homage to its predecessors. The front end is characterized by thin headlights and a large radiator grille, while a piece of chrome trim that connects the tail lamps emphasizes the car’s width.

    One of the images shows the Lagonda offers room for four passengers on bucket seats upholstered with diamond-stitched leather.

    The Lagonda’s body will be crafted largely out of carbon fiber in order to save weight. Sources indicate it will ride on a stretched version of the Rapide S‘ platform and use an evolution of its 5.9-liter V12 mill, but Aston is keeping technical details under wraps until the car is formally unveiled.

    Aston Martin revealed buyers will be able to purchase a Lagonda by invitation only, and the car will exclusively be sold in the Middle East. Production is scheduled to kick off in Gaydon, England, in early 2015.

    Company executives ambitiously promise the Lagonda will be one of the most luxurious sedans on the planet.

    “The new model, like its exclusive siblings the One-77 and V12 Zagato, has been created as a piece of exceptional automotive art,” explained a spokesperson in a statement.

    The 2015 Aston Martin Lagonda could be presented to the public next October at the Paris Motor Show. Pricing information will be published closer to its on-sale date.

  • Atalanta Sports Tourer relaunched after 75-year hiatus

    September 8, 2014
    Recently revived by a British enthusiast, the Atalanta brand has presented a modern-day version of the Sports Tourer that was produced in England from 1937 to 1939.

    Visually, the 21st century Sports Tourer stays true to its predecessor thanks to features like a mesh radiator grille, a short two-piece windshield, wire wheels and headlights mounted in large chrome buckets. The body is made entirely out of aluminum and the car sits on tall, skinny tires that add to the period-correct look.

    Under the skin, Atalanta’s engineers have incorporated modern materials and technology to ensure the car is safe and reliable. The chassis remains carefully crafted using specially-treated wood, but the original car’s four drum brakes have been replaced with more efficient discs all around. The steering and the suspension components are evolutions of the original design.

    Earlier reports indicate the Sports Tourer is powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that sends 185 horsepower and 190 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheels via a five-speed BorgWarner-sourced manual transmission. 185 horsepower may not be much in today’s world, but it is important to note that the car weighs just 1,600 pounds. Nevertheless, buyers who want more power can ask for a supercharged version of the engine, an extra-cost option that Atalanta already offered back in 1937.

    The Atalanta Sports Tourer will go on sale in England shortly. The company has not revealed how much the roadster will cost or how many examples it is planning on building.

  • Paris preview: Citroen DS Divine concept

    September 8, 2014
    Newly emancipated, PSA Peugeot-Citroën’s DS brand will travel to next month’s Paris Motor Show to unveil a new concept car called simply Divine.

    The DS Divine takes the form of a low-slung four-door subcompact that stretches 165 inches long, 53 inches tall and nearly 78 inches wide. The Divine’s front end is inspired by recent DS models like the 6WR and the 5LS, while the rear end gets oversized exhaust pipes and thin LED tail lamps that stretch far into the quarter panels. The headlights pack built-in Swarovski crystals, an upscale feature also found on the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe.

    Inside, the DS Divine is equipped with an overly futuristic dashboard designed to look like diamond-quilted leather and an similarly stylized center console. For those who prefer a more down-to-earth look, DS promises the dash cap and the trim on the door panels can be removed and replaced in just 15 minutes, taking the concept of customization to new heights.

    Power for the DS Divine concept comes from a direct-injected 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that makes 267 horsepower at 6,000 rpms and 243 lb-ft. of torque between 1,900 and 5,500 rpms. The four-banger is the most realistic part of the concept because it already equips the Peugeot RCZ R and it will likely power the production version of the 308 R concept.

    Although the Divine concept will likely not be added to the DS catalog as a regular production car, it accurately previews the design language that will define the company’s models over the coming years.

    Stay tuned to Leftlane for lives images of the DS Divine concept straight from the show floor in Paris starting on October 2nd.