Aston Martin gets personal

Aston Martin's mercurial CEO Ulrich Bez seems to be in good spirits here at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. During the automaker's press conference, he revealed that the final One-77 was sold last week, at full price, and that the advanced engineering lessons learned during its conception are now being applied to regular production cars.

The amazing new V12 Zagato is one example of this. While the V12 Zagato is being launched here in Geneva, Bez says the company has already started taking orders for the limited-to-150 special edition, which celebrates 50 years of the DB4GT Zagato.

Aston also showed its revised V8 Vantage range, plus examples of how its Q by Aston Martin personalization program can create even more bespoke models.

More coverage from the Geneva Motor Show

Aston Martin V12 Zagato

What is it? The beautiful Aston Martin V12 Zagato is a bespoke styling exercise based on the fearsome V12 Vantage and derived from a shortened DBS platform. Built to mark 50 years since the launch of the DB4GT Zagato, it will be strictly limited to 150 cars.

What's hot? Designed in celebration of the famous Italian styling house, Aston Martin has incorporated plenty of Zagato cues into the V12 Zagato, from the double-bubble roof to the 3-D grille made of interlocking "Z" shapes. It looks stunning — and gains an additional kudos for being built on the same production line as the departing One-77 supercar.

What's not? The hand-built model was designed by Aston Martin in honor of Zagato, not by Zagato itself. Arguably, this is why it is so truly pretty, but it still means it's not quite the real thing. Few will care, though.

How much and when? The V12 Zagato costs around $623,000, and deliveries will start in the fall. Bez says orders are already starting to be placed.

Anything else I should know? Aston Martin has created four unique colors for the V12 Zagato: Scintilla Silver, Alloro Green, Alba Blue and Diavolo Red. Painting the car alone takes 100 hours; total assembly time for each V12 Zagato is 2,000 hours. The famous Aston Martin "wing" badge also gets a unique twist here: The normal green background is red.

View Slideshow:  Autos in a League of Their Own

Q by Aston Martin

What is it? Q by Aston Martin is the automaker's bespoke finish service, for those who want a unique Aston Martin. At the press conference, Bez said the service could even lead to the creation of an Aston Martin Shooting Brake.

What's hot? The secret of Q by Aston Martin is to go beyond the car. The team can, for example, work with architects to give the interior of your new house a bespoke twist. Or create themes for your new yacht. It's a way of spreading the in-house Aston craftsmanship far beyond the automotive world.

What's not? Naturally, you have to be exceedingly rich to call upon the services of Q by Aston Martin. The Cherry Tree Cygnet on display here at Geneva also shows how choices of dubious taste can be made reality because of it. Luckily, the Mariana Blue Virage restores the order of taste, despite its bizarre luggage rack.

How much and when? If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Seriously, Q by Aston Martin is making the automaker's designers, engineers and craftspeople available to you, in order to satisfy your wildest dreams. This, believe us, does not come cheap.

Anything else I should know? Aston Martin says the new Q service uses the fast, flexible and modular approach to engineering enabled by its Vertical Horizontal platform design. The logical assumption here is that if there's something on a DBS that you'd love fitted to, say, a V8 Vantage, Q by Aston Martin will make it happen.

Read:  2012 Aston Martin Virage: First Drive