Aston Martin V12 Zagato: From A to Z in the City of Love

History has often been created through special liaisons – a perfect example being the Anglo-Italian romance between Aston Martin and Zagato. What better place to celebrate their latest adventure than in Paris, the city of love…?

The relationship is already well into its half-century, and has been bountiful in terms of the stop-and-gawp nature of its offspring, if not the quantity. Its first, the achingly beautiful Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato, is today considered one of the most desirable classics ever made. In the mid-80s, the Aston Martin V8 Zagato once again put focus on the partnership (this time with a more varied reception), and the early 2000s saw the romance rekindled with the arrival of the DB7 Zagato and its drophead princess, the AR1. Most recently, the fourth lovechild – the V12 Zagato – bowed in at the 2011 Villa d’Este concours.

Holding hands along the Seine

During a recent trip to Paris, we come across one of the 101 examples built, and cannot resist taking it for a brief waltz along the promenade. Unlike its predecessors, it came from the Aston Martin studios rather than those in Milan – but you wouldn’t know from looking at it. Traditional design flourishes such as the double-bubble roof are immediately recognisable, as are more recent ones such as the multiple ‘Z’ emblems in the front grille. Otherwise, it’s still identifiable as a V12V from the front, but the wide hips, rear spoiler and special-issue taillights become noticeable as you move round the car.

Tentacles and 2,000 hours of work

Climbing inside, your attention will be captured by the quirky pattern, stretching like tentacles across the seats. It’s one of the explanations for the 2,000 man-hours that go into each V12 Zagato and, as you might expect, the price is correspondingly high. This brand-new, unregistered car will set you back around £330,000 plus local taxes, but considering its rarity and pedigree, there are a lot pricier ways of experiencing this long-lasting love affair.

The original advert from Auto Performance - Aston Martin Paris can be found in the Classic Driver Market.

YAMAHA XS650 CUSTOM BY THRIVE MOTORCYCLE

The Yamaha XS650 is a remarkably versatile motorcycle, we’ve seen them customised into cafe racers, flat trackers, choppers, bobbers, scramblers and just about anything else you can possibly imagine. That said, I think it’s safe to say that we’ve never seen one that looked quite like this.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Yamaha XS650 is a rare motorcycle in Indonesia. The relatively small but highly populated island chain is overflowing with buzzing little motorcycles in the 50cc to 125cc range with anything over 250cc being considered “big” –  the caused some significant difficulty for the team at Thrive Motorcycles when they were approached by a new client who wanted a Yamaha XS650 custom and adamantly refused to be talked out of it.

The search for a useable XS650 began and took almost 2 years, finally a worse for wear example was discovered, purchased and transported in the back of a van to the Thrive Motorcycles HQ in Jakarta. The timeline for the build was just 6 weeks due to the fact that the client wanted to launch the finished bike with the launch of Esre Denim at Kustomfest 2013.

With the compressed timeline added to the difficulty of working for the first time with the 650cc Yamaha the team at Thrive sat down with then client and asked them “What is on your mind right here, right now? It could be anything, just tell us”. He thought for a moment and then looked at them and said “wood burning stove”.

I’m willing to be good money that this is the first time that a stove has been chosen as the inspiration for a custom motorcycle, the guys at Thrive think so too and as a result of the unusual request they spent a week online researching wood burning stoves – something that many of them had never seen in person due to Indonesia’s tropical climate.

They finally settled on the Mendip Loxton stove from England and the build began. The first task was a full engine teardown and rebuild followed by a restoration of the gearbox. The frame was then detabbed and cleaned before having its rear end cropped, a black satin coat of paint was then applied and the newly refurbished engine was bolted into place.

The unusual fuel tank had to be fabricated by hand before being painted matte black and paired with a handmade leather saddle. A pair of clip-on handlebars were added with leather wrapped grips, a square headlight replaced the original circular unit and a new set of low-profile blinkers were added front and back.

One of the more unusual elements has to be that rear fender, it’s been cleverly designed to house the stop light and was angled to catch spray at speeds of under 40mph – about as fast as you’d ever want to go in the rain on the busy streets of Jakarta.

Somewhat impressively, they managed to hit the 6 week deadline with time to spare with the photographs you see here having been snapped just before the bike left for the showroom floor. Thrive have a fascinating back catalogue of motorcycles that are all well worth a look, you can click here to Like them on Facebook or click here to Follow themon Instagram.

Photographs and information provided by Thrive Motorcycles.
Additional information via Bike EXIF and Highsnobiety.

De Widehem Automobiles: Dreaming underground

Tucked away in an underground garage in the elegant 15th arrondissement of Paris, the young team of De Widehem Automobiles has – since 2003 – established one of the most fascinating showrooms in the French capital...

Legendary classics and modern supercars are hidden behind an utterly inconspicuous backdrop...

…and yet the the cars, ranging from legendary classics to modern supercars and saloons, are hidden behind an utterly inconspicuous backdrop. A mirrored window in a narrow street near the Eiffel Tower, next to a plain garage entrance: no one would guess that here hides one of the most intriguing car collections in France. The understatement is intentional – access to the sacred halls of the underground car park is by appointment only, and the business’s Parisian customers appreciate the discretion. Some 10 years ago, Nicholas Mélin turned his passion for automobiles into a career and founded his own car dealership. Today, you can discover all the major European marques in De Widehem Automobiles’ stocklist, including Aston Martin, Bentley, Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini and Porsche; but any top-class model might find a good home here.

A complete service

Managing Director Nicholas Mélin and his young and friendly team take time for their clients – and this approach pays dividends: anyone who has ever bought from De Widehem is almost certain to return. Some leave their cars parked in the 1,700-square-metre, well-secured garage and get them out only at the weekends for a pleasure-ride. Many of the sports cars and classics that live here are pure summer cars, hence De Widehem uses the winter months to carry out small repairs and maintenance in its ‘car hotel’. Together with partner company Red Parts, spare components are rapidly and cost-effectively procured for Italian brands such as Ferrari, Maserati or Lamborghini.

Automotive passion

De Widehem Automobiles will even take on administrative duties for its customers, if requested, so that you can enjoy your Mustang Fastback or McLaren without worrying about such distractions as the insurance. This is a highly popular service, especially when many customers have more than one car. As a result of De Widehem’s obvious passion for automobiles, its fame has spread well beyond the 15th arrondissement: Nicholas Mélin was previously seen on French television – in the programme ‘Fast Club’ he would drive through Paris in a Lamborghini, or report on the news at the Geneva Motor Show.

Spoilt for choice

Customers, meanwhile, are spoilt for choice: will it be the magnificent Aston Martin DB5 or perhaps a rare DB7 Vantage Zagato? Should you invest in the dynamism of a McLaren 12C or the timeless lines of a 996 Porsche 911? On our last visit we opted for a Ferrari 308 GTB – and kidnapped it for a test-drive along the Seine.

Photos: Jan Baedeker

The current stocklist of De Widehem Automobiles can be found in the Classic Driver Market.

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