It’s been seven months since R-Reforged confirmed production of its celebratory Aston Martin V12 Zagato Heritage Twins, but only now has the Swiss firm finished the first pair, which are due to join Zagato’s own private collection. New images of the UK-made duo are accompanied by confirmation of the spec, with the 5.9-litre V12s producing “approximately 600bhp”, so that’s about 608hp, making them around 90hp more potent than the donor cars that underpin them. Once the job is done, R-Reforged is asking £1.75 million excluding taxes for each pair.
The first cars, specced by Andrea and Marella Zagato, will be followed by 18 more pairs before the run – produced to celebrate Zagato’s centenary, which fell last year – is done. The new design was created at Zagato’s Milan headquarters, evolving the 2011 Vantage V12 Zagato Coupe form to create its Speedster sibling. Both wear carbonfibre bodywork and gain new aero features, including a front splitter and an active spoiler at the back. Inside, the old Vantage cabin has been suitably spruced up, with higher-grade materials, including gold and platinum.
If you're still wondering how R-Reforged can charge £1.75m for upgraded Vantages, it's probably true that the cars need to be seen up close to be fully appreciated. R-Reforged highlights the technical challenges it faced in everything, from reproducing cabin carpets to extending the windscreen and increasing its rake. Apparently assembly of each car in R-Reforged’s Warwick facility requires 12 craftspeople and 16 weeks of work. All examples are “extensively stripped, analysed and thoroughly refreshed” before they receive over 500 new components. The result is, as you’d expect, quite a significant step up on what first rolled into the factory.
The project is to celebrate Zagato design first and foremost, although the Heritage Twin powertrain itself has gained an aluminium air intake and titanium exhaust system as part of its upgrades. The chassis receives springs and dampers to lower the ride by 10mm. The tracks are 20mm wider than standard, helped by the fitment of 19-inch centre lock wheels with an increased offset. They come wearing Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres for more bite. The final settings for the new hardware will be tested at Spain’s IDIADA facility early in 2021, so the pair should at least handle as good as they look.
To help sweeten the deal, customers get a series of tailored gifts along with their cars, including a Twins carbonfibre presentation case, scale models and parts samples. R-Reforged said owners will receive a more gifts, invitations and experiences “throughout their ownership”. For the rest of us, the Twins headed into Zagato’s private collection will at first be on display at Aston Martin’s St. Gallen dealership in Switzerland through to the start of 2021, before they’re sent on a global tour with stops in the US and Europe. Something tells us they’ll be transported via planes and lorries, rather than under their own power.
“Revealing these cars marks an incredibly special moment in both Zagato’s long history and in our own, very short journey of just three years,” said Thomas Mayer, the CEO of R-Reforged parent, R-Universe. “We have brought together an incredible team of engineers and craftspeople to develop and produce these beautiful, exquisitely detailed cars that amplify the design, craftsmanship, performance and ownership experience of the original.”
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