Aston Martin One-77 bodywork is taut and poised, with strong, muscular surfaces that are instantly recognisable, underpinned by the unique VH (Vertical Horizontal) architecture of bonded and extruded aluminium, which provides exceptional manufacturing flexibility. “VH allows us to maintain the form, language and soul of the product,” says CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. “Aston Martin should always be about the design and about the proportions.”
To create a car closer to art than the automobile. That was the aim” Marek Reichman, Director of Design The Aston Martin One-77 is the culmination of this endeavour. A car sublime in every detail. Aston Martin has a rich heritage of craftsmanship; One-77 builds on this, seamlessly blending the highest calibre of contemporary engineering with the craft and beauty of the artisan’s work. It is the very essence of Aston Martin. One-77 fuses advanced technology with stunning design to create possibly the world’s most desirable automotive art form. “Aston Martin One-77 expresses all the ingenuity that Aston Martin has acquired in recent years. It is the culmination of all the beauty and emotion that we can bring into the car and by this, it is an expression of what Aston Martin stands for”
Dr Ulrich Bez, CEO Aston Martin.
A Bang & Olufseh sound system fills the room with an instrumental composed specifically for the occasion. The cluster of 500 organic LED lights hanging from the ceiling shimmers in concert with the music, illuminating the space, and from the darkness appears a new Aston Martin One-77, Aston Martin's extremely low-volume, low-slung modern muscle car. These theatrics come standard for any owner who takes delivery of the nearly $1.8 million Aston Martin One-77 rn theVIP customer lounge at the Aston Martin factory in the English village of Gaydon. The presentation ceremony underscores what each of the 60 buyers (as of mid December) already knows: that the Aston Martin One-77 promises to be a special car,and meeting it for the first time should be a memorable event.
Serial production and interchangeable parts have rendered handmade cars nearly ertinct. But even by the standards of Aston Martin, which is one of the few manufacturers that continue to build cars by hand, the process ofproducing a One-77 is an anachronismthough one involving the most advanced technologies and components. So different are the building procedures for the One-77 that Aston Martin has established an assembly facility separate from its main factory. Instead of the factoryt assembly-line arrangement in Which a car moves from one station to the next, each Aston Martin One-77 remains stationary while the cralttsmen and parts come to it.
The build area is stark, with a whiteon* white color scheme and an absence of any features that might distract workers as they cut and sew leather for the car's interior appointments or assemble its intricately detailed wiring components. In one area of the faciliry engines rest on rolling platforms, waiting to be moved into place. Nearby are hand-formed aluminum bodies-some still matte black from the e-coating process-that workers will eventually pair with mechanical underpinnings. Aston Martin builds four One-77s at a time, taking about six weeks to complete them.Two or three workers concurrently labor at each car. Often, half their bodies are hanging out of the car's shell, which is protected by a tailored vinyl cover, as they route bundles of wiring, solder electrical connections, bolt in various components, or mate the power train to the chassis.
Each Aston Martin One-77 is commissioned by the cart buyer, who is invited to visit the Aston Martin headquarters in Gaydon and consult with Marek Reichman, the company's director of design. Reichman can help buyers choose their car's colors, textures, and finishes, a potentially daunting task because of the number of options. For example, although Aston Martin offers 14 exterior colors unique to the One-77-including whites, bronzes, grays, and different shades of silver metallic-buyers also can have the paint color-matched to a watchband or even naii poiish. Headliner choices range from Alcantara to leather bearing various laser-etched patterns. Instead of the more conventional brushed or polished aluminum for the interior trim, buyers can select a precious mecal such as rurhenium or rose gold (one of the few options that will increase the cart base price).
The choices continue after the car is delivered. Aston Martin says that the factory calibrates the Aston Martin One-77t suspension for 90 percent ofdriving styles and roads. Nevertheless, the company will send a technician to wherever the car is garaged and tune the suspension according to the owner's preference, whether it is for a favorite stretch of asphalt or a racetrack. Anticipation of deliveries has been building for some time. (As of mid December, deliveries were expected to begin before the year's end.) The Aston Martin One-77 debuted in fall 2008 at the Paris Motor Show, but it was not completely unvei-led; it remained mostly concealed under what Aston Martin referred to as a "Savile Row-tailored" car cover. Its first f,rll presentarion took place in March 2009 at the Geneva International Motor Show.That was about a year and a half after Aston Martin CEO Dr. lllrich Bez approved plans to develop an all-new model that would have a production run limited to 77.
Why 77? In an airy space adjacent to the design studio, design director Reichman, tall and smartly dressed, ruminates that 50 cars seemed too skimpy, 100 was not special enough, and 75 wouid be "too obvious." He adds with a chuckle,""We never do anything too obvious at Aston Martin." The number seven is rife with connotations for Aston Martin. It could allude to the year of the projectt inception (2007), to Dr. Bezt birthday (November 7), or, of course, to Aston Martint long association with a certainBritish secret agent. Regardless of the car's production volume and why Aston Martin chose that sum, the nearly century-old company conceived the One-77 to represent a pivotal period in its history. "We had amassed all this intellect and understanding," Reichman explains, i'and really wanted to show our capabilities to the world."
Engine
All-alloy, quad overhead camshaft, 48-valve, 7312 cc V12. Front mid-mounted engine, rear-wheel drive. Fully catalysed stainless steel lightweight sports exhaust system with active bypass valves Maximum power 559 kW (750 bhp/760 PS) at 7500 rpm. Maximum torque 750 Nm (553 lb ft) at 5500 rpm.
Transmission
Rear mid-mounted, six-speed automated manual gearbox with auto shift manual/select shift manual (ASM/SSM) electric hydraulic control system. Magnesium alloy torque tube with carbon-fibre propeller shaft. Limited-slip differential. Final-drive ratio 3.538:1
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