$1.7M Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Speedster Is a V12 Swansong on Nurburgring

The amount of horsepower of the cost of a speed demon is far from everything when it comes to lapping the Nurburgring. The latest example of this was delivered yesterday, when we talked about Koenigsegg's factory driver, Robert Serwanski, blitzing the Green Hell in his 185 hp Mazda Miata.

However, we can't help but get weak in the knees at the sight of the $1.7 million machine jumping from one rumble-strip to the other.

Given the fact that Gaydon has now gone down the twin-turbo route, with the DB11 and the nearly ready 2018 Vantage now packing Mercedes-AMG power, the naturally aspirated V12 animating the open-air Zagato we have here makes us regard the Grand Tourer as a swansong. A 600 horsepower swansong, that is.

Oh, and by the way, if you find such an expensive stunt enticing, make you sure you check out yesterday's Vanquish Zagato spyshots, which show the lavish cabin getting a complimentary rainwater wash.

As it was the case yesterday, the Speedster was accompanied by a Vanquish Zagato Volante on the Nordschleife. Nevertheless, the latter test car packed the first's compact active rear wing, a feature that wasn't present on the Zagato Volante that made its debut at last year's Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

Interestingly, the windshield frame of the Speedster seems to accommodate a pair of roof mounts, even then imagining a top that would fit around those elegant humps adorning the posterior of the Aston doesn't come easy.

And yes, the piece of Ring spy footage below does offer a sweet aural sample, so we can all enjoy the V12 might of this collector car - Aston Martin is rumored to only produce 26 examples of the Speedster.