The first images of Aston Martin’s production V12 Zagato, which is scheduled to enter the market in the fourth quarter this year, have been released. The car – of which only 150 examples will be built – will make its first European appearance in Geneva.

Last May saw the V12 Zagato make its world debut at the prestigious Villa d’Este concours, and with consumer demand the decision was made to build a strictly limited run of cars.

Each Zagato, constructed from a combination of hand crafted aluminium and carbon fibre, will take approximately 2,000 man-hours to complete. Four unique colours have been created for the car, these being Scintilla Silver, Alloro Green, Alba Blue and Diavolo Red.

Inside, the car will feature Seven Bridge of Weir hides in a semi-aniline finish to offer durability while preserving the natural texture of the leather as trim material. Workmanship details will include hand-stitched quilting of a unique design to create a flowing pattern across the seats and headlining as well as ‘Z’ embroidery in the headrests and rear parcel shelf.

Elsewhere, the dashboard and centre stack wears satin-finish carbon fibre, with piano black accents and satin black rotary switchgear and carbon fibre sill plaques, with a ‘V12 Zagato’ inlaid metal script providing a distinctive finishing touch.

Aston Martin is set to debut the first production V12 Zagato at the third Kuwait Concours d’ Elegance, which runs on February 15-18.

The car, which made its debut in prototype form in May last year at the Villa D’Este Concours in Italy, is being built in strictly limited numbers of up to 150 cars, with the first customer deliveries scheduled in late 2012.

The Zagato, based on the V12 Vantage, features a handcrafted aluminium and carbon-fibre body along with a bespoke interior, and is powered by a 6.0 litre V12 mill offering 510 hp and 570 Nm of torque.

We first saw it in May as an “endurance racer concept” at the Villa D’Este Concours. Then Aston actually took it racing at the 53rd ADAC ACAS H&R-Cup VLN race at the Nürburgring. Now, the Aston Martin V12 Zagato has been confirmed for production, but in a “strictly limited number” of 150 examples. This decision comes after Aston found “overwhelmingly encouraging interest from customers” for its latest collaboration with Zagato.

Based on the V12 Vantage, the Zagato’s body is of handcrafted aluminium and carbon fibre. Every aluminium panel was formed using an English wheel and traditionally crafted body bucks, and Aston says that the shape would not have been possible using pre-formed panel techniques. Iconic Zagato design cues include the double bubble roof, created in this case from five separate pieces, illustrating the craftsmanship required to built this car.

The V12 Zagato sits on Aston’s dynamic bonded aluminium platform, and is motivated by a 6.0-litre V12 engine with 510 hp and 570 Nm of torque. The big engine is paired to a rear mid-mounted, six-speed automated manual gearbox.

Orders are now being taken on a first come first served basis. Production of the £330,000 car is expected to commence next summer in Gaydon, and lucky first customers will get their hands on it from the second half of 2012.

Future classic. Gallery after the jump.
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Aston Martin has announced that production of its Rapide will move to the company’s Gaydon headquarters in Warwickshire, UK. The four-door sports car is now built by Magna Steyr (MS) in Graz, Austria. The shift will happen in the second half of 2012 and preparation work is underway.

The V12 powered Rapide is the first Aston not to be build in England. In 2008, due to constraints at Gaydon and after conclusion of a six-month feasibility study, Aston Martin appointed MS to hand build the £140,000 car. A dedicated facility at MS’ plant was then set up with pre-production of the Rapide starting in Q4 2009. Full production started in 2010.

“In 2008 we had facility restrictions at Gaydon which indicated that production of Rapide at Gaydon would likely compromise production of our other cars. We were not prepared to do this. Now, three years on things are very different – Gaydon is more established, more flexible and more efficient,” Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez explained.

“While our overall volume has not changed significantly, we now produce a far richer model mix – eight model lines (plus five variants) compared to three model lines (plus two variants) in 2008 – so Rapide production is now possible,” Bez added.

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Fifty years after the iconic DB4GT Zagato made its production debut, and 25 years after the V8 Vantage Zagato – and then later, the V8 Zagato Volante – came about, Aston Martin and Italian design house Zagato have announced that they have yet again renewed their famous partnership, with a new collaboration set to make its first showing as an initial concept at the Villa D’Este Concours in Lake Como, Italy on May 21.

No details yet on the concept, which the companies are presenting with a view towards a production car sometime in 2012, with only a teaser image available. Undoubtedly, there should be many more series production examples of the new Aston Martin Zagato vehicle than the 19 DB4GT Zagatos built.