This special model, often considered eccentric, was commissioned by Bristol dealer Tony Crook and was produced in very limited quantities.

[8][9] However, these changes resulted in a loss of the typical agility associated with Bristol cars, and despite having a larger engine, the 406 Saloon was slower than its predecessors.

[11][12] Initially, Bristol intended to create a shorter and faster two-seater version of the 406 Saloon at their factory, and a prototype built in 1958[note 2] was abandoned due to cost considerations and uncertain prospects for the company.

[13] In the following spring, Tony Crook, a Bristol Cars board of directors member and the brand's largest dealer revived the idea of a special sport model based on the 406.

This led to the development of the 406 Zagato, which was not officially a Bristol Cars model but an independent project by Anthony Crook Motors.

The 406 Zagato was aimed to bring Bristol to its origins:[7] it was designed for drivers who were prepared to make sacrifices in comfort and space for the sake of sporting performance, as stated by Tony Crook.

He commissioned the renowned Italian Carrozzeria Zagato, known for its expertise in lightweight construction[14][15] and whose British general importer Crook had been for years, to design and build it.

The prototype was displayed either on the Bristol Cars,[13] Anthony Crook Motors,[18] or Zagato stand,[17] depending on the source.

[21] Bristol went on to sell a total of about 90 units of the 412 Targa coupe and its successor, the Beaufighter, whose body was designed by Giuseppe Mittino for Zagato, from 1975 to 1993.

At the rear, the car is equipped with a rigid axle featuring Watt linkage and a trailing arm, torsion bar springs with suspension levers, and self-designed shock absorbers.

The 2.2-liter version used here (2216 cm³, bore × stroke: 68.69 and 99.64 mm) is a further development of the engine already installed in the 400, which goes back to a 1938 BMW design (328).

[28] The engine has hemispherical combustion chambers with V-shaped hanging valves controlled by the bottom-mounted camshaft via tappets, pushrods, and rocker's arms.

The Laycock de Normanville overdrive, which has been standard on all Bristols since the 405 can be engaged in fourth gear and disengages automatically when downshifting.

[40] With the horizontal roofline and the C-pillar set well back, Zagato implemented a Tony Crook specification that the car had to have four full-size seats for adults.

[44] Crook acknowledged 40 years after production ceased and admitted that the build quality of the Zagato bodies did not meet the expected standards.

[35] According to contemporary test drives, the 406 Zagato equipped with the more powerful 110S engine achieved a top speed of 122 mph (196 km/h).

Tony Crook assigned two employees from his workshop to supervise the work at Zagato's factory and ensure compliance with Bristol's quality requirements.

[33] The finished cars then arrived in Great Britain "on their own wheels,"[35] where they underwent additional reworking and final adjustments at Crook's workshop in Hersham in Surrey.

Based on various sources, it is evident that the production of the Bristol 406 Zagato did not reach the originally intended quantity of ten cars.

[43] The Bristol 406 Zagato was considered a competitor to other luxury sports saloons of its time, such as the Alvis TD 21, the Aston Martin DB4 (or DB4 GT), and the Jaguar Mark 2.

For example, the £4,100 Aston Martin DB4 GT - the short sports version of the DB4 -, had an engine rated at 222 kW (299 bhp, 302 PS), more than twice that of the 406 Zagato, according to factory figures.

[61] Since Anthony Crook Motors had only managed to sell six out of the ten 406 Zagato vehicles produced in Italy according to the contract, a surplus of bodies remained.

To make use of these surplus bodies, Crook made the decision to retrofit them onto older Bristol chassis starting in 1961.

In a process known in the UK as upgrading, several Bristol 400 and 401 chassis were retrofitted with the remaining 406 Zagato-style bodies, which had been stylistically reworked in detail in Crook's workshop.

[19][62][63] Like the regular 406 Zagatos, these upgrades were projects of Anthony Crook Motors; there was no direct link to Bristol Cars.

[13] The exact number of these mixed models produced is unknown, but Tony Crook stated in 2001 that the demand had been good.

The two-seater car, designated factory 406S-P2, is a one-off built in 1960 at Zagato in Milan on behalf of Anthony Crook Motors.

[44][64] The Bristol 407 GTZ Zagato, introduced in 1961, also received a similar, although significantly longer, body design.