The One-77 has a unique carbon fibre chassis and V12 engine.
There is more to the newest Aston Martin than just a pretty picture.
That is all the company has revealed of the One-77 but the British brand intends to create the fastest, most exotic and dearest car in the company's history. It will come complete with a $2.4million price tag and Le Mans-style performance with a top speed in the 350km/h range.
“One-77 is a new supercar,” says Aston Martin spokesman Matthew Clarke.
“It has to be above everything we build now in terms of performance, but it is not just about performance. We will take bespoke carmaking to a new league, for a very, very small group of people.
“We would like to show selected customers a car before the end of the year, but don't expect it at a motor show.”
The One-77 program has been under way for almost two years and has significant differences from the rest of the Aston Martin range, which runs from the Vantage to the DBS. It has a unique carbon fibre chassis and V12 engine and does not use any of the company's road-going VH chassis components.
“It's a completely new structure, with new technology, a new chassis and a new engine,” Clarke says.
Even the name is special, although it will probably be overtaken by something more charismatic come production time.
“That is a working title,” Clarke says. “It's for a number of reasons: 77 is the absolute number we would make and it's also a tie back to the names we used in the 1950s and '60s. It's also lucky seven.”
Aston Martin is yet to build a car in the One-77 program, but Clarke says it is a fully feasible program which will be a step up and beyond the company's current flagship, the DBS. And it is not just designed for rich wannabe racers.
“It's not a track-only car,” Clarke says. “The intention is it would be a road car.”
The program will produce a car later this year ahead of sales in 2009, with customers able to have a massive input on the individual customisation of their car. The basics of the carbon fibre chassis, with a 7-litre V12 engine and aluminium body, will stay the same but they will be able to choose all sorts of special cabin treatments.
While the One-77 program is still at the early stages, Aston Martin is in the finishing straight for another new model for 2009. It is the Vantage RS, a hot rod track-ready car which takes the V12 engine from the DBS and puts it into the smaller and more nimble Vantage. The car has been testing at the Nurburgring and should be in production before the middle of next year.
Meanwhile, the list of desirable cars you cannot buy in Australia has just grown to include a super-hot Porsche Cayman. Renault disappointed fast-car fans last week with news its latest RenaultSport Megane would not be heading Down Under and now Porsche has done the same with the Cayman S Sport.
It has ruled it out despite the obvious appeal of a car with the visual impact ofa 911 GT3 and extra punch from a tuned —3.4-litre six.
“It won't be coming,” says Porsche Cars Australia's Paul Ellis. “We're not taking it.”
But the Cayman Sport is expected to do well in Europe, with more than 225kW lowered suspension with Porsche Active Suspension Management, 19-inch alloy wheels, bi-Xenon headlamps and leather sports seats as standard.
It also picks up the paint palette from the GT3 RS, with orange and green bodywork as a signature item.
Each of the S Sport cars in the Cayman family will have a build number on a plaque on the glovebox, marking their place in the limited production run of 700 cars.
