Tuesday 17th August 2010

Aston One77: Up Close And Personal

PH has a good poke around Aston's new super-exclusive supercar

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We were up at Aston Martin's Gaydon HQ yesterday for a quick test of some of Aston's latest offerings (of which you'll be able to read more on PH soon), when what should we spot in the corner of their foyer but a gleaming Aston One-77.

Turns out the car - a running prototype - was part of a sales event for current V8 owners, which we politely asked if we could gatecrash. It's not often you get an opportunity to poke around a £1.2m supercar, you see.

We already know that the 7.3-litre V12 is going to make the car 220mph fast, and that the One-77 will sound thoroughly glorious, but our gracious hosts allowed us to see how the car will feel from the driving seat.

Pretty special, is the answer. Swoopy is another answer. In the cabin every surface, every button, every angle seems dramatically curved - more like something out of a graphic novel than reality. Critics often accuse Astons of having a bit of a 'parts bin' feel to the cabin. But spend 1.2 million quid on a One-77 and you can guarantee it won't feel like anything is borrowed.

"You can customise almost everything, too," one of the Aston peeps told me. "From interior trim and materials to throttle response. You have to stick to the standard power output," - and with an expected 720-750bhp who would want more - "but pretty much everything else is up for discussion."

Outside, the rolled aluminium panels seem impossibly curvy, while the carbon fibre on the door cards - a nod to the car's carbon monocoque chassis - is an object lesson in how to make the lightweight material look classy as well as racy.

Other highlights? The inboard dampers proudly displayed in the rear window are stunning-looking pieces of engineering, while the 3D-look badge on the car's rump is exquisite - more like a jewel than a car badge.

Customers for the One-77 will start to get their cars delivered before the end of the year and, on the basis of our all-too-brief encounter, they will be 77 very lucky people.

 

[Galsia]

What an ugly car...

[007 VXR]

Galsia said:

What an ugly car...

[drewbagz]

I absolutely love it! Massive thumbs up from me.

[HowardB]

Lucky as in £20000000, lucky?

That is a lot of luck!

I imagine that few if any will ever be seen on the road, shame really I bet they sound great!

:-)

[Stu R]

Haven't seen it in the flesh, but it still does absolutely nothing for me in the pictures / video.

It's not that it doesn't look deserving of it's price, it just doesn't look nice to me.

Edited by Stu R on Tuesday 17th August 09:22

[pagani1]

Great success if sold out. Is it really the kings clothes syndrome at work here?

[10 Pence Short]

Stu R said:

Haven't seen it in the flesh, but it still does absolutely nothing for me in the pictures / video.

It's not that it doesn't look deserving of it's price, it just doesn't look nice to me.

Edited by Stu R on Tuesday 17th August 09:22

That's how I feel about it, too. It just seems to be saying 'you should automatically desire me' without actually making that happen. It seems like an interpretation of what an Aston should be, rather than the real thing.

[Mini1275]

In black, in real life, this thing looks 100x better than any pics can ever show. It's stunning

[burwoodman]

is it really 2M quid? I have no idea, can't recall. 2M just sounds OTT

[PascalBuyens]

I absolutely love it.

Then again, I'm a bit of an AM fan

[PascalBuyens]

burwoodman said:

is it really 2M quid? I have no idea, can't recall. 2M just sounds OTT

From the article:

It's not often you get an opportunity to poke around a £1.2m supercar, you see.

[burwoodman]

Missed that finer point on price. They may as well have made it 2M-they will sell all they make I am sure but quite ridiculous. Makes a veyron seem affordable really...which for what it is appears good value.

Edited by burwoodman on Tuesday 17th August 09:44

[Roberty]

Seen one in the metal and the magazine and web pictures do not do it justice at all.

The size, proportions and sheer presence of the car are somehow lost in the lens.

See it for real then judge, you still might not like it but I do.

Still hard to justify £1.2 million for it though!

[PascalBuyens]

Well, to be honest, every 1M car (or even 500k) is already OTT for me... It's not that they're made from gold...

[RichB]

It all a matter of opinion, I look at the Zonda and think it looks a bit messy, a bit like a GT racing car with few wacky leather straps, I've seen loads of pure race cars which are far more attractive to my eye than a Zonda. I've examined (and sat in) the Aston and in the metal I think it's stunning. Some won't agree but I think it makes most Zonda/Koenigsegg type things look old-hat.

[ZesPak]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

People will pay for exclusivity, as I said back then, with only 20(x2) made of the Reventon, they could have easily asked double what they did. And that, in essence, was just a bodykitted LP640, while this is quite bespoke.

[Motown Junk]

couldn't you get that fat git out of the way so we could see the 'curvey' interior you write about?

[Riggers]

Motown Junk said:

couldn't you get that fat git out of the way so we could see the 'curvey' interior you write about?

Charming!

[993Targa]

I was in that very room yesterday when the picture was taken an fortunately my ugly mug is hidden by the chap in the white shirt in the top left of the picture.

It was a fantastic morning at Gaydon with a talk by the Product Development Director, Design Director, tour of the factory, poke around the 177 and a drive in the N420 and V12 Vanatge.

John

[williamssam]

I'm yet to work out the relevance of the number 77, anyone know?