Is that a new Aston Martin estate?!

No. It's a Shooting Brake. And you won't be carrying your family to the beach in it either, as this, the new Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Shooting Brake (to give it its full, evocative, name), is an extravagant two-seater with space in the back purely for the tailored luggage, accessed via a powered hatch and lit from above by glass inserts in the gloriously elongated roof.

Zagato? Ah, we've been here before...

Indeed we have. The Shooting Brake will be the fourth member of the Vanquish Zagato family, following on from the sold-out 2+2 Coupe and Volante variants. As with those, power comes from the regular Vanquish S's 6.0-litre V12 engine (600hp, 630Nm) and it goes to the rear axle via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Adaptive damping will be standard too, though we do wonder how many of these will ever be driven given the limited production run (just 99 will be made) and demand far exceeding supply of the existing Zagato models.

Hang on; you said there were four cars.

Well spotted. The fourth is the Vanquish Zagato Speedster, also revealed at this year's Pebble Beach extravaganza. Like the Shooting Brake, this is purely for two people, though it goes the opposite way in terms of roof as it has none whatsoever. Instead, there is a pair of gorgeous 'Speed Humps' behind the seats that gives the otherwise contemporary design a retro feel.

Stunning. I'm afraid to ask the price...

It's irrelevant in any case, as the Speedster is already sold out, but not far off a cool million pounds, we suspect. Only 28 examples are to be manufactured, bringing the total number of Vanquish Zagatos to just 325.

Shane O' Donoghue - 16 Aug 2017