Aston Martin V12 Zagato Concept Cars racing Nurburgring Test (VIDEO)
Elena Vnorovscaia / Chişinău / Moldova.ORG / -- The three Aston Martin factory-backed entries in the 39th ADAC Nurburgring 24 Hour race (25-26th June), which also included two new V12 Zagato concept cars (affectionately nicknamed “Zig” and “Zag”), have all successfully complete the ultimate endurance test in Germany, observed by some 200,000 spectators.
Taken separately, the number 5 V12 Zagato took 5th place in the SP8 class with sister car, the number 3 V12 Zagato finishing 6th. In the SP10 class, a factory-backed V8 Vantage N24 raced to 5th place.
Aston Martin’s twin V12 Zagato entry marked the next step of the project which began when the car was premiered at the Concorso D’Eleganza at Villa D’Este in May this year, winning the Design award for Concepts and Prototypes. The show car was then transformed into the number 3 race car, nicknamed ‘Zag’ (red livery) while in parallel, a sister car – number 5, nicknamed ‘Zig’ (green livery) was built.
The intention to enter the new V12 Zagatos in this year’s race offered an extension of the company’s philosophy of signing-off new products by entering a car which is as close to the road car as possible and publicly subjecting it to the toughest 24 hour test, by entering a car in prototype form.
“All our cars finished today, and two out of the three customer teams also crossed the line. This includes two brand new cars which we launched only four weeks ago,” said Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez.
Racing features of the V12 Vantage Zagato include a bonded aluminium platform modified with a bespoke steel roll cage, front and rear double wishbone suspension with fully adjustable Multimatic DSSV Dampers and a 120ltr endurance racing fuel tank.
The bodywork of the Aston Martin V12 Zagato is handcrafted from aluminium. That means there wasn't any mass production metal stamping going on. Instead, every aluminium panel was formed using an English wheel and traditionally crafted body bucks.
Each front wing alone comprises seven separate pieces of aluminium, combined and then hand finished to provide one flowing surface. As usual for Zagato cars, the V12 Zagato has been given the trademark double-bubble roof.
Powering the Aston Martin V12 Zagato the same engine as used in the V12 Vantage. That means is got a 6.0 litre V12 which produces 510 horsepower and 420 lb-ft (570 Nm) of torque.
"Of course, fifty years ago Italian design houses were widely seen as leading the way with new designs. But now and supported by our independency, Aston Martin has its own in-house design ability so this new venture with Zagato is more collaborative than it perhaps would have been in the past", said Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez.
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