He crazy powerful and very rare Aston Martin One-77 has been in the public eye now for some time, after it was first shown in North America at the lovely Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
Like all Aston Martin products, this one is stunning in every category, from exterior styling to power. What they have done with the One-77 is fuse advanced technology with a stunning design to create possibly the world’s most desirable automotive art form.
Yet, as is the way with these things, most people in the world will never get the chance to own or even drive one of these vehicles. The first reason is the price, which is - get ready for this - $1.4 million. Fine, we can just sell everything we own and work really hard for the next 50 years. Yet, even if you have the money, only 77 will be made, making this automotive art form quite rare indeed.
Exterior Details
What can you really say that hasn’t already been said. This car is stunning. The One-77 will feature a full carbon fiber monocoque chassis and a handcrafted aluminum body. That body was designed in typical Aston fashion, as it carries over that unique grille, just with more flair.
The beautifully body was conceived and designed at Aston Martin’s Gaydon HQ and the monocoque has been built in partnership with Multimatic (MTC). As world leaders in carbon composite technology, advanced vehicle analysis and dynamic simulation, MTC brings unrivalled specialist capabilities to the One-77.
To justify the car’s stratospheric price tag, Aston Martin spared no expense in fine-tuning every detail in the car, including carbon ceramic wheels and LED headlights.
If you don’t get aroused by looking at this machine, you aren’t alive.
Interior Details
We don’t have as much information as we would like on the interior, but from the photos we have seen, it appears that the One-77 will feature an interior like nothing before.
It will obviously be hand-crafted and it should feature every luxurious amenity that anybody could possibly want.
According to Aston Martin,the One-77’s interior "is inspired by a minimalist approach with every item designed for purpose. The interior design reflects of the beauty of the carbon fiber monocoque, leaving large areas of carbon exposed. The ergonomics of the car create the ultimate environment for the enthusiastic driver. The driver sits very low and slightly behind the center of gravity with few distractions to interrupt the enjoyment of driving."
Since performance is one of the main focus points of the One-77, Bang & Olufsen Concept Development have developed a very special sound system for the One-77 supercar that took on the difficult task of not making the supercar heavier than it is. For that, the subwoofer and woofer boxes have been completely integrated into the car’s advanced carbon fiber body structure. The system is made from solid blocks of aluminum and delivers a total power of 1000 watts. The amplified power for the woofers and midranges comes from Bang & Olufsen’s proprietary ICEpower technology, delivering 750 watts of undistorted sound.
The Power
Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez insists that the One-77 is not intended to directly take on the quad-turbocharged 1000 hp Veyron. While it might seem like it the Bugatti is in Aston’s firing line, this vehicle is not about crazy power numbers and speed records, this is about being the pinnacle of what Aston Martin can achieve.
Under the hood, the One-77 will be powered by a naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V12, derived from Aston’s 6.0-liter powerplant. That massive motor will crank out 750 horsepower with torque checking in at about 533 pound-feet. This has now been confirmed by Aston.
While this might not rival the 1,000 horsepower unit in that German car, it does give Aston Martin some bragging rights, as they have created the most powerful naturally aspirated motor on the planet.
“Our brief to the engine team was for them to take the 6.0-litre V12 as far as it could go, both in terms of output and weight reduction. The targets were a power output of no less than 700bhp with a 10 per cent reduction in engine mass. Incredibly, the Aston Martin and Cosworth engineers achieved a mass reduction of some 25 per cent, and although we’ve yet to complete the final engine calibration work, I’m confident we’ll see in excess of 700bhp. It’s an awesome accomplishment, but one that’s typical of the One-77 project, for it has consistently brought out the very best in everyone involved," wrote Chris Porritt, One-77 Programme Manager in an Aston Martin Press Release.
Those astronomical performance numbers and the One-77’s 3,300 pound curb weight should allow for a top speed around the 220 mph mark, with a 0-60 mph time of around 3.5 seconds or less. The car will also use a strengthened version of the DB9’s 6-speed automated manual transmission.
The Handling
The Aston has been designed to be a brilliant cornering machine, starting with the motor. Thanks to the adoption of a dry-sump oil system the engine is mounted 100mm lower than in any previous V12-engined Aston, which helps keep the One-77’s center-of-gravity as low as possible. The engine is also mounted 257mm aft relative to the front wheel center line.
In terms of dimensions, the One-77 is shorter than the DB9, lower than the Vantage and has a track of six and a half feet – only eight inches narrower than a Hummer H1.
The One-77 will use double wishbones at each corner and it features inboard suspension front and rear, with pushrods employed to transfer vertical suspension movements to the horizontally mounted spring/damper units. If you have trouble understanding all this, just know that this setup has been taken from a race car and the reason for this inboard suspension was to reduce unsprung weight and make the whole thing easier to package.
The One-77 will feature advanced Dynamic Suspension Spool Valve (DSSV) technology, which means that the dampers are fully adjustable. This means that you can change the shocks characteristics without actually changing the shocks.
Once the new owner takes the One-77 from the automaker, Aston will setup the car’s suspension characteristics. This will ensure that the owner gets whatever they want, from a GT car to a track tuner super machine.
Keeping you on the road will be Pirelli P Zero Corsa tires (255/35 ZR20 front, 335/30 ZR20 rear) developed specifically for the One-77. You might think that these tires will be expensive to replace and you’d be right. But, if you can afford the car you can afford the tires.
Braking
Aston will use their Carbon Ceramic Matrix brake technology in the One-77. The calipers have been re-engineered to give off less heat from the brake pads into the brake fluid. The discs themselves have been developed to give drivers the maximum possible contact area between the face of the disc and the brake pads. This will ensure the best stopping power for the car.
Price
With all this technology packed into only 77 cars, you better understand that this car will be expensive. According to the British magazine Top Gear, the car’s price will be £1,200,000, while the American magazine Robb Report expects it to be priced at US$1,700,000. Turns out the American magazine was correct. According to Aston Martin, the One-77’s price tag is going to be increased by £150,000 ($233,000) as a result of the longer than expected amount of work being done on each individual model. By any stretch of the imagination, $233,000 is a lot of money, but given that the buyers are all wealthy beyond our imaginations, a quarter-of-a-million more just might be chump change for these guys. This last bit of information bumps the price tag up to about $1.7 million. WOW.
Competition
With a price tag that high, the Aston doesn’t have a whole lot of competition to worry about. There are only a handful of vehicles that will even come close to matching the One-77 in terms of price and performance.
The first is obviously the Bugatti Veyron. The German built machine packs more power and more technology, but the two are equals when it comes to luxury and we think that the Aston has a better look. We can be sure that the One-77 won’t spawn a bunch of designer models that are just horrendous.
Pagani’s new C9 is surely to outperform the One-77, but in terms of luxury, the Aston is miles ahead. We also think that no matter how good Pagani gets, the Aston badge is still the king of the hill. Styling all depends on what you like, a crazy supercar design or an elegant body. Dealers choice, but we say, why not have both.
Ferrari and Lamborghini can’t come close to offering anything that looks like the One-77, or costs as much as it either. In terms of performance, the 599 GTO will come close, as will the Murciélago LP 670-4 SuperVeloce. Yet, the latter car will be gone shortly, as the LP700-4 will coming along soon.
Conclusion
In the world of supercars, Aston Martin is the king of sophistication and beauty. The One-77 is sure to continue this trend, as it combines classic Aston style with a touch of modernism. There has never been an Aston like it and it will change the way we think about the company.
