Do you have several kilograms of 100 Euro notes tearing your pockets at the seams and have a hard time choosing between body styles? Are you bewitched by the allure of long-tail aerodynamic specials yet not sure if you want to look at one all the time? Are you particularly fond of the 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the Renault Espace? Well, good news. This is the Zagato AGTZ Twin Tail, and its back end comes off to make it shorter.
Zagato is one of the more polarizing coachbuilders of the past 100 years, responsible for both gorgeous streamlined shapes like the “Sanction Lost” Porsche 356 I wrote about the other week and exercises in awkwardness like the Diatto Ottovù Zagato. The Alfa Romeo Giulia SWB Zagato unveiled by the company in 2022 is certainly a love-it-or-hate-it proposition, so this latest coachbuilt creation could’ve landed anywhere on the map.
The AGTZ Twin Tail moves the needle back towards striking with an unusual detachable longtail that lets owners choose between Le Mans looks or a rakish kammtail silhouette. Of course, the Zagato signature double-bubble roof is on full display here, but beyond that, it offers just the right amount of retro to look classic-inspired without seeming like a pastiche.
It certainly helps that beneath the wild coachwork lie some highly regarded bones. The lightweight Alpine A110 sports car serves as a base for this latest Zagato creation, and from what everyone who’s driven it has said, it seems absolutely fabulous. Factory curb weight clocks in at just 2,432 pounds, and with 249 horsepower on board, a stock Alpine A110 is good for a zero-to-62 mph time of 4.5 seconds. Quick? Tick.
Of course, the Alpine A110 base probably means that the Zagato AGTZ Twin Tail probably won’t be coming to America anytime soon. Due to its limited status and collector value, it’s possible this low-volume coachbuilt sports car can be subject to petitioning for show and display, but even if it gets a limited pass through NHTSA, it would still have to meet EPA import eligibility requirements.
Weirdly, this isn’t the only time someone’s played around with the idea of a car with a detachable butt. Back in 1989, Plymouth unveiled a concept car called the Voyager III, which looked a bit like if Dr. Seuss designed a minivan. It was a six-wheeled stadium-seat behemoth until the rear end was detached, at which point it became a compact urban runabout. However, unlike the Voyager III, wealthy patrons can actually buy the Zagato AGTZ Twin Tail, rather than just gawk at it on auto show stands.
The Zagato AGTZ Twin Tail won’t be cheap, with prices starting at €650,000. However, with just 19 on the docket for production, it’s difficult to doubt that Zagato will sell every last one of them. The whole concept of a car with a detachable butt is gloriously bonkers, the sort of oddity we’re glad exists.
(Photo credits: Zagato, Plymouth)
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That Voyager is like the human centipede of minivans.
That is actually one of the better looking cars released by anyone of recent when viewed in isolation ie not as inspired by something or a copy of another thing
I would prefer the Voyager III. THAT monstrosity Zagato looks good without the but lift but paying an additional $600,000 to have the ability to make the cat look like crap isn’t worth it. It looks like a baby walking g around with a poop filled diaper.
Compared to the inspiration, the Alpine 220, this is such an eyesore. So many unecessary lines and shapes without any meaning or intention.
This thing is amazing. If we can get some drag coefficient data, it may prove to be a better McClaren Speedtail than an actual McClaren Speedtail, which has a surprisingly mediocre 0.28, thanks to all those damned vents, creases, and oversized wheels, but the overall shape has potential to go much lower if you cast aesthetics aside. Note the 1967 Panhard CD Peugeot 66C has a 0.13 Cd with the extended tail, and a 0.20 without the extended tail, for comparison, to get an idea of how low you can go on this metric while retaining a functional sports car.
Why would you want to remove it?
Sir Mix-a-Lot does not approve.
That car looks awesome. I’d just leave the long tail on all the time, looks way cooler that way.
Me: “this is bullshit”
Matt: “Adrian, can you elaborate for our members?”
Me: “No”
Adrian, can you elaborate for Matt?
I choose to see it as a more bonkers version of those cheesy-but-alluring rear seat caps that some race- or cafe-racer- replica bikes sometimes come with (I have a thing for the Triumph Thruxton). But at least those can be removed/installed by a single person.
I choose to see it as a shittier version of something a second year design student might come up with.
As long as it is functional(drag reduction and/or stability), I’m all for it. For this particular car, I guess the jury is still out on that…
It’s the sort of idea that students keep coming up with. But like this the execution nearly always fails.
I never liked the big nosed Thunderbird and this poop filled diaper is even worse.
If I knew how to do it, I’d totally do a .gif animation starting with the short-tail car, and then animate the tail extending as if it were a diaper filling with poop, and used the .gif animated image to make a short 5-10 second video with the accompanying sound effects of it being filled.
Didn’t Mercedes do a concept with extendable aero surfaces? It’s like everything, there are no free lunches. If you have moveable surfaces you got added weight and complication.
Mercedes-Benz Concept IAA
I’m not a fan of active aero because it adds complexity/more things to break. I prefer to have a fixed slippery shape from the start.
One of the ideas I had for my undergrad final major project was a track car with moveable aero. But I was thinking more along the lines of panels that would change shape when a current was applied to them. In the end I decided it would be too difficult to demonstrate on a quarter scale model and I wasn’t entirely convinced it was a strong enough idea.
Me too we don’t have that here yet.
Hey we finally have a Venn Diagram with two overlapping pie charts.
But really, who HASN’T strapped a fake ass on themselves once or twice…
Nobody,
Didn’t King Missile have a song about Detachable Butt? No, wait, that was a different body part.
Glad I’m not the only one who remembers that.
Boy that brings back memories.
I’ve been impatiently waiting for my kids to finally be old enough to introduce them to that song.
That’s responsible parenting 😉
Maybe the part where I wait. But, really, in the long run I will be responsible for their exposure to the likes of this song along with such classics as Piece of Shit Car by Adam Sandler and probably the entire works of Wesley Willis. So, maybe net-neutral on parenting at the end.
I actually thought someone had a song called Detachable Butt before reading your comment and googled “detachable butt”. Yeah, don’t do that.
TOO LATE!!! O.O
Nice looking car, overall. The detachable butt is a great idea, and one has to consider the idea of a car with a variety of interchangeable butts. A short butt for easy city parking, a slightly longer butt for looking cool while cruising, maybe a big butt with a big trunk for hauling stuff. All kinds of possibilities here!
Okay detachable butt to add a trunk space but ugly as a crap filled diaper.
So a big butt with enough room for all that junk…. Inside your trunk?
Kinda reminds me of when a lizard gets scared and yeets its tail off
Missed name opportunity: Zagato Gecko
Mandatory ‘Hold on to your butts’ quote.
I don’t always love what Zagato is pitching, but this is pretty hot.
As an aero nerd, I think this is an awesome idea. If you’re interested in learning about kammbacks and other aero trickery, highly suggest you check out Julian on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/@JulianEdgar
I wonder if he’ll do an episode on this…