This is the 592bhp Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato

Aston Martin and Zagato have history. Since 1960, the two fabled marques have collaborated on a range of special edition cars, and the bright red, V12-engined Vanquish you see above is the latest.

It’s called, unsurprisingly, the AM Vanquish Zagato, and is making its global debut at this weekend’s rather lovely Concorso d’Eleganza Villa D’Este.

It's the fifth car to emerge from the partnership, and uses a Vanquish V12 as a base car. Here, the Aston’s 6.0-litre, naturally-aspirated V12 gets a boost to a nice, round 600ps – or 592bhp in old money – along with an unspecified set of “enhanced driving dynamics”.

The exterior though, is very much specified. Designed by Aston’s Marek Reichman and Andrea Zagato in Milan, and built in Gaydon, the body is shaped entirely from carbon fibre, with the ‘split lines’ reduced by large, one-piece panels.

We urge you to sweep around the rear design first. It’s quite gorgeous. The new rear tail lights are of classic Zagato design, while there’s also a nod to the 820bhp Vulcan via blades (the LED tech). Also, there are quad exhausts, nestled in amongst the carbon fibre sills that span the body.

About that profile: more than a hint of new DB11, we’d say. The glasshouse is shaped like a ‘visor’ (because racing), the roof gets the classic Zagato double bubble, and there’s a new crease on the rear wheel arch where it joins up to the sloping roof.

Aston has also referenced the One-77 (in the wing mirrors), and the CC-100 concept (the side strake). Inside, there’s more carbon fibre herringbone, bronze leather, plus the all-important ‘Z’ quilt pattern on the seats and doors, and embossed onto the headrests.

“It represents the essence of an important design relationship that dates back over 50 years,” explains Andrea Zagato. Have a click through the pics and let us know if you think it’s worthy to sit alongside such Aston-Zagato greats as the DB4 GT and V12 Vantage Zagato.

We think yes.