Magazine
One of the Most Eclectic Collections You've Ever Seen
Behind the scenes of a member's eclectic collection, ranging from classics to supercars and vintage race cars, and the one he still yearns for.
October 2, 2026
There are people who go out for a gentle Sunday drive, return home, and spend the rest of the day polishing their car. And then there’s Byron...
Earlier this year, my wife Joanne and I went out with our best friends Byron and Vanessa. The plan was simple — a spirited drive around Rutland, followed by Sunday lunch at a place Vanessa had hand-picked. Lovely scenery, a few twisty roads, a decent roast — what could go wrong?
Well, for a start, I was in charge of the route. Which meant there was absolutely no chance we’d just “happen” to pass TOP 555 without stopping in. Charles, who runs the place, makes excellent coffee, and besides, it’s a moral duty to occasionally remind yourself you can’t afford half the things in that showroom. Naturally, we didn’t tell the girls where we were going. We just rolled up, parked outside, and wandered in as if it was all perfectly spontaneous. This is where the trouble began.
Because Byron has a sharp eye for the rare and the special, show him something unusual — preferably red and wearing the winged Aston Martin badge — and chances are it’ll end up parked on his drive.
Byron already had some very special cars at home — the sort you’d expect to see in a magazine rather than on your neighbour’s drive. But the moment he saw the Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato Volante, he knew it was something different.
It didn’t take long before he realised it was the one. The spec was spot on, the colour impossible to ignore, and with numbers this low, chances like this don’t come around often. So while Vanessa was still scanning the wine list at lunch, Byron had quietly ensured that this particular Aston wasn’t going anywhere without him.
Now, for those not steeped in car geekery, the name “Zagato” might just sound like a pasta dish. But for petrolheads, it’s one of the most evocative names in design. Zagato is a Milanese coachbuilder founded in 1919. They’ve spent more than a century draping exotic bodies over already exotic cars.
Aston Martin’s relationship with Zagato goes back to the DB4 GT Zagato of the 1960s. That car is now worth so much money that if you parked one outside your local Waitrose, the value of the entire postcode would triple instantly. Since then, Aston and Zagato have had an on-off fling, producing a handful of collaborations every couple of decades.
The Vanquish Zagato Volante is one of the most recent. Unveiled in 2016, it was limited to just 99 worldwide. Finding one in the right colour and condition is rare enough. Making sure you don’t miss it when you do? That’s where Byron excels.
The Vanquish Zagato Volante is not just another Aston. It’s a convertible dripping in carbon fibre, with bodywork sculpted into curves so muscular it makes a Ferrari look like it’s been skipping leg day.
Under the bonnet lurks Aston Martin’s 5.9-litre naturally aspirated V12. 600 horsepower, none of this hybrid nonsense, no turbos hiding in the background. Just a proper old-school, lungs-full-of-air engine that bellows like Brian Blessed being startled by a firework.
Top speed? 200 mph. 0-60? Around 3.7 seconds. But stats don’t really matter here. What matters is that the Vanquish Zagato Volante looks outrageous, sounds like thunder having an argument with a volcano, and is rare enough to make even the most seasoned car enthusiast stop and stare.
And now one lives in Nottingham. Because Byron knew a special car when he saw it.
Here’s the thing though. Lots of people buy cars like this and then lock them away. They treat them like art, wheeling them out only to wipe dust off the number plate once a month. Byron is the opposite. He actually drives his cars.
When we did the photoshoot of the Zagato, we took it through the Yorkshire Dales on one of Supercar Driver’s midweek scenic drives. By the time the camera shutters started clicking, the poor car was already wearing half the county on its flanks. Mud on the sills, dust on the bonnet — it looked gloriously used.
Whatever the car, Byron drives it. Rare specials, old classics, modern supercars — they all get exercised. He buys cars to experience them. To hear the engines, to feel the grip, to laugh like a child when the exhaust pops and bangs.
And that’s why the Zagato fits him so well. Because this isn’t a car to be admired from afar. It’s a car that begs to be driven, even if it means arriving at a photoshoot looking like you’ve been competing in a particularly muddy round of the WRC.
If you want to understand Byron’s weakness, don’t bother with psychology textbooks. Just paint a car red. He will appear, smiling, ready to talk about it.
Red cars have always been his thing. Red Ferraris, red Porsches, red Astons, it doesn’t matter; he sees one, and it speaks to him. This Vanquish Zagato Volante? Painted in “lava-through-a-volcano” red. It was never going to get away.
You could line up 50 Aston Martins in front of him. If 49 were in tasteful shades of grey and one was in red, Byron would only see the red one. It’s less a weakness, more a trademark. Vanessa should probably start carrying blindfolds just to stop him wandering into showrooms.
It’s easy to joke about Byron coming home with a car after Sunday lunch. But here’s the truth: Byron is one of the warmest, kindest people you could meet.
He’s like a big brother to me — generous, thoughtful, always up for an adventure. When we’re on Supercar Driver drives, he’s the guy making sure everyone else is enjoying themselves. And if that enjoyment involves hammering a V12 Aston through a B road until it’s covered in road grime, then so be it.
He’s also discerning. He doesn’t chase every limited edition or every collector car that comes along. He waits, chooses carefully, and only goes for the ones that truly fit his tastes. And when they do, he shares them. He lets people experience them. He believes that cars are meant to be used, enjoyed, laughed with — not hidden away.
So what does this particular purchase say about Byron? That he can’t resist red? Definitely. But more than that, it shows he knows exactly what he wants from a car, and when he sees it, he doesn’t hesitate.
The Vanquish Zagato Volante is a rare jewel of a car, a piece of rolling sculpture with a soundtrack to match. Some owners would keep it hidden, waiting for its value to climb. Byron’s already splattered it in mud, bug guts, and Yorkshire gravel. And that’s the point.
Cars like this aren’t meant to be polished to death. They’re meant to be driven, to be alive, to make your Sunday lunch detour last six hours longer than planned.
So yes, Byron may have been ambushed at TOP 555. Yes, Vanessa may have only wanted roast beef and ended up with a driveway now one Aston wider. And yes, I may have been complicit in the whole affair by “accidentally” routing us through Charles’ place.
But when you look at that Vanquish Zagato Volante — low, wide, impossibly red, and covered in evidence of a Yorkshire adventure — you realise this is exactly how things should be.
Because in a world where too many supercars are locked away in climate-controlled bunkers, Byron is out there giving them life. And in this case, life just happens to involve a 600-horsepower Aston Martin Zagato Volante, chosen with care, and enjoyed exactly as it should be.
