You simply cannot be an observer or celebrant of automotive history without including Aston Martin, now marking its centenary of building superior sporting cars, in your ongoing deliberations. That’s what happened this week at the Historic Motoring Awards, where a panel of judges selected the firm’s beautiful DB4 GT Zagato Continuation as Bespoke Car of the Year. The judges, including Jay Leno, Octane editor-in-chief James Elliott and collector-car insurance leader McKeel Hagerty, selected the Continuation for the award in part because of its modernized use of traditional coachbuilding techniques, and for the fact that it’s being constructed at Aston Martin’s historic home base of Newport Pagnell in England.
Look at that grille opening, the sinuous curves along its flanks, and the airy-but-aerodynamic roof treatment, to say nothing of the traditionalist wire wheels. Only an even 19 copies of the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation are being fabricated to celebrate Aston Martin’s biggest birthday ever. Each one of the luscious Zagato-themed bodies is constructed of 1.2mm-thick aluminum sheeting stretched across a digitally created body buck and hammered into shape to the tune of some 4,500 man-hours per car. These were the skills used when Aston Martin and Zagato – which marks its own centennial this year – first collaborated on a sports car some 60 years ago. This car is a foll0w-on to the 25 DB4 GT Continuation cars that sold out in 2017. The same outcome is likely here, regardless of the fact that the DBZ Century Collection has a price tag of 6 million pounds Sterling.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 