Photo: Dylan Miles / PistonHeads
‘Tis the season to be jolly again, and it might as well involve at least one exorbitantly-priced gift to yourself. For car collectors, this could be Rowan Atkinson’s iconic 1986 Aston Martin V8 Vantage Zagato coupe, which has popped up again on the specialist market.
This Zagato, Chassis 20013, is a very unique and historically important vehicle, and it’s not just because it’s one of the 52 “production” V8 Vantage Zagato coupes ever produced. It is also the only V8 Zagato modified by Aston Martin Works Service, a very powerful lightweight racer that’s been campaigned extensively and successfully, and also a road-legal vehicle under later ownership.
Delivered in Gladiator Red coachwork with a tan leather interior to the first owner in the summer of 1986, the V8 Zagato reached its third owner, Atkinson, in 1998. To regular folks, Atkinson will probably always remain the famous British comedian behind the hilarious Mr. Bean persona on TV and the big screen, but in the car enthusiasts community, he is a well-known racer and passionate collector.
Unlike many collectors, though, Atkinson doesn’t like garage queens, just like he’s personally opposed to the idea of hoarding cars just for bragging rights. He loves to drive and race them, and the V8 Zagato was no exception. After paying a reported $670,000 for it in standard configuration, he immediately commissioned Aston Martin Works with an overhaul that would make it performance-ready in the AMOC C2 Class “Mildly Modified” category.
Modifications mostly focused on shaving off weight and included lightweight panels, Perspex side windows, and increased performance. The 5.3-liter four-cam V8 engine in Vantage spec, producing 432 bhp at 6,200rpm, was rebuilt and enhanced with Weber Alpha fuel injection, now developing 482 bhp at 7,000 rpm and 412 lb-ft (558 Nm) torque at 5,500 rpm. The suspension system was upgraded and customized, with two-way adjustable Koni dampers and Eibach springs. AP Racing brakes were added.
All these modifications turned the V8 Zagato into Atkinson’s dream car, but they also set him back some $300,000 over what he had paid for it. He made the most of that investment, racing the vehicle successfully between 1999 and 2007 and crashing it once. When he sold it, it was retired from competition.
In 2016, marque specialists Nicholas Mee and Co overhauled it to make it more road-worthy, including a new road clutch, a new interior, and air conditioning. The engine and lightweight panels are the same, so whoever buys it will get a 2-in-1-type of a deal: a potent racer and a legal road car in one great-looking package.
Whoever buys it will also have to have deep pockets. Dylan Miles of PistonHeads currently holds the listing, and it doesn’t include a price, but since this is not baby’s first rodeo, we have previous auctions figures for an estimate. For instance, in 2008, the V8 Zagato sold at auction with Bonhams for £122,500 ($162,000 at the current exchange rate), and then for twice the amount in 2016, also at Bonhams, when it fetched £253,500 ($335,000). But the listing notes that this “is arguably the most developed and highly tuned example on the planet,” and it also comes in seasonal red, so it’s most likely worth it.
Delivered in Gladiator Red coachwork with a tan leather interior to the first owner in the summer of 1986, the V8 Zagato reached its third owner, Atkinson, in 1998. To regular folks, Atkinson will probably always remain the famous British comedian behind the hilarious Mr. Bean persona on TV and the big screen, but in the car enthusiasts community, he is a well-known racer and passionate collector.
Unlike many collectors, though, Atkinson doesn’t like garage queens, just like he’s personally opposed to the idea of hoarding cars just for bragging rights. He loves to drive and race them, and the V8 Zagato was no exception. After paying a reported $670,000 for it in standard configuration, he immediately commissioned Aston Martin Works with an overhaul that would make it performance-ready in the AMOC C2 Class “Mildly Modified” category.
Modifications mostly focused on shaving off weight and included lightweight panels, Perspex side windows, and increased performance. The 5.3-liter four-cam V8 engine in Vantage spec, producing 432 bhp at 6,200rpm, was rebuilt and enhanced with Weber Alpha fuel injection, now developing 482 bhp at 7,000 rpm and 412 lb-ft (558 Nm) torque at 5,500 rpm. The suspension system was upgraded and customized, with two-way adjustable Koni dampers and Eibach springs. AP Racing brakes were added.
All these modifications turned the V8 Zagato into Atkinson’s dream car, but they also set him back some $300,000 over what he had paid for it. He made the most of that investment, racing the vehicle successfully between 1999 and 2007 and crashing it once. When he sold it, it was retired from competition.
In 2016, marque specialists Nicholas Mee and Co overhauled it to make it more road-worthy, including a new road clutch, a new interior, and air conditioning. The engine and lightweight panels are the same, so whoever buys it will get a 2-in-1-type of a deal: a potent racer and a legal road car in one great-looking package.
Whoever buys it will also have to have deep pockets. Dylan Miles of PistonHeads currently holds the listing, and it doesn’t include a price, but since this is not baby’s first rodeo, we have previous auctions figures for an estimate. For instance, in 2008, the V8 Zagato sold at auction with Bonhams for £122,500 ($162,000 at the current exchange rate), and then for twice the amount in 2016, also at Bonhams, when it fetched £253,500 ($335,000). But the listing notes that this “is arguably the most developed and highly tuned example on the planet,” and it also comes in seasonal red, so it’s most likely worth it.
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