The festivities for Aston Martin's 100th birthday continued this past Sunday at Kensington Gardens, where we had the largest ever gathering of Aston Martin cars with some 550 models worth around an estimated £1 billion (about $1.5 billion / €1.2 billion) making the ride to London.
More than 50,000 fans, owners, and casual visitors came to view the rare cars, two of which were shown for the very first time: the specially commissioned and rather sexy looking, if we may add, DBS Coupe Zagato Centennial and DB9 Spyder Zagato Centennial made by Zagato.
The DBS-based coupe model with the V12 powerplant was conceived for an unnamed "young and prestigious Japanese entrepreneur" and it sports a unique body featuring Zagato's trademark ‘double bubble’ roof design.
Norihiko Harada, Zagato’s Chief Designer explains: “Redesigning the DBS was a difficult job. The DBS is already one of the most beautiful modern sports cars around. Our challenge was to bring sporty styling together with a more Mediterranean luxury GT feel, all with typical Zagato quality.”
The interior of the two-door model was carried over from the DBS, which has been replaced by the Vanquish in Aston Martin's range, with Zagato adding new colors and trims.
The other one-off Aston Martin is the DB9 Spyder Centennial made for well-known American car collector Peter Read who had this to say about his beautiful new ride:
“The DB9 Spyder Zagato Centennial perfectly merges Aston Martin and Zagato’s DNA by combining the elegance of design, typical of Zagato, with the soul, power and prestige of Aston Martin, all developed over the last 100 years. This car personifies the timelessness of the Aston Martin/Zagato marque.”
Similar in appearance to the Italian coachbuilder's other Centennial special, the DB9 Volante-based Spyder has a slightly different profile due to the side strake and vent positioned on the front fender. Neither Zagato nor Aston Martin have released any technical details, but it is believed that the one-off model has kept the DB9's 510hp (517PS) 5.9-liter V12 drivetrain intact.
