Aston Martin's revival of links with Italian specialist coachbuilder, Zagato, to jointly build a lightweight, aluminium two-seater coupe demonstrates Dr Ulrich Bez's belief that there is a future in the past for 'super exclusive' limited production run models.

The company's chief executive plans to evoke the classic early 1960s DB4 Zagato with between 50 and 100 hand-built examples being built to order from the first half of next year. The Zagato, slotting in price between the £94,500 DB7 Vantage coupe and £158,000 Vanquish, will make its public debut at the Birmingham motor show in October.

Bez's strategy involves creating limited batch models which are likely to become instant collectors' items. It extends to an even lower volume Speedster variation on the DB7 theme, which he claims will be given production approval if a minimum threshold of 25 orders is reached.

The Zagato, with its hand-built aluminium bodyshell beaten out by craftsmen in Italy will, Bez promises, feature very dramatic and unique styling. Silver, green and navy blue are the only colours to be offered. Final assembly is likely to be at the 50-year-old Newport Pagnell factory.