Italian coachbuilder, Zagato, has revealed the Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake Zagato, the latest in its trio of one-off Aston Martin models celebrating the English company’s 100 years.

THE TIE-UP BETWEEN Aston Martin and coachbuilder Zagato dates back to 1950 and the DB4 GT, and what you’re looking at here is the latest in that relationship. It’s a one-off Aston Martin Virage Shooting Brake Zagato which was unveiled yesterday at the Chantilly Art & Elegance show in France.

The Virage Shooting Brake completes the Aston Martin –Zagato centennial trilogy, which began in 2013 with the release of the DBS Coupe Zagato and DB9 Spider Zagato Centennial. In the Aston Martin make-up the Virage (based on the DB9) did, before being discontinued two years ago, sit below the DBS.

Looking through the release, there’s no information about what might be under the bonnet, but it would be a reasonable guess to assume its Aston Martin’s 6.0-litre V8. The person who commissioned the one-off is from Europe; previous Zagato Astons have been commissioned by an American and Asian buyer.

The Shooting Brake concept might have been English in origin, but the notion of a luxury coupe with a functional boot resonated in Italy, and all of the top Italian coachbuilder turned their hands to them. For example: Fiat 130 Maremma by Pininfarina (1974), Ferrari 330 GTC 2+2 by Vignale (1965), Lamborghini Flying Star by Touring (1966), Aston Martin Jet 2 by Bertone (2004), Mercedes 230 SLX Shooting Brake by Frua (1964), Chrysler Plainsman Two-door Station Wagon by Ghia (1956) and Zagato itself with the Mercedes-Benz S600 V12 Shooting Brake (1995).

“The first partnership between Aston Martin and Zagato came to fruition in 1960 after Aston Martin sought to remove even more weight from the very special DB4GT. In the search of an ever lighter and higher performance version, Aston Martin approached Zagato. Managing Director, Elio Zagato and Technical Director Gianni Zagato along with a talented team managed to draft the main designs of the DB4GT Zagato,” a statement read.

“This exclusive racing GT car was showed in late 1960 at the London Motor Show and production began in early 1961. Of the original 19 DB4GT Zagato models built, all still survive and exist today within some of the world’s greatest car collections.

“Twenty-five years later, the two companies joined forces again in 1986 to design and build a limited number of the V8 Vantage Zagato and then later the V8 Volante Zagato.”