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Aston's new supercar!

The shores of Lake Como, Italy, will play host to the first public display of Aston’s complete One-77 supercar.

As a limited edition supercar (comprising a production run of only 77 units) the One-77 is the most ambitious project Aston Martin has ever embarked on.

Blending Gaydon’s handbuilt-craftmanship and rich motorsport history, One-77 aims to be the ultimate incarnation of traditional front-engined, rear-wheel drive performance car motoring.

High-tech RWD chassis

To ensure the ‘old-school’ configuration is able to compete with the latest, contemporary mid-engined supercars, One-77 features a carbon-fibre chassis and sophisticated suspension configuration, blending a classic double-wishbone all-corner set-up, curiously located inboard, with pushrods.

These pushrods transfer vertical suspension movements to the horizontally mounted damper units, succinctly put – it’s pure track technology.

Damping itself is fully adjustable and employs dynamic suspension spool valve technology (DSSV), Aston claiming it as a road car debut for the technology. These spool valves enable damper characteristics to be manipulated without having to remove the dampers themselves from the car.



Massive V12

Powering One-77 is a Cosworth fettled version of the DBS 6l V12.

Swept capacity increases significantly to 7.3l, though engine mass has been decreased by 25%, which should mean plenty of exotic materials constituting the block, heads and moving bits.

Running a dry-sump lubrication system, the 7.3l V12 is mounted 100mm lower in the chassis than any previous V12 engined Aston Martin, accruing weight distribution and handling benefits.

Aston Martin claims to still be rounding off the decimals regarding engine output figures, yet admit power should peak well in excess of 500kW.

On target to produce the One-77 in road going form with a rolling mass of less than 1 500kg, performance figures should factor in a 3.5 second 0-100km/h time (it’s rear-wheel drive only remember) and top speed in excess of 320km/h.

Interior view - at last?

At the Geneva motor show last month Aston showed off a skeletal One-77 concept as a technical illustration, which impressed all and sundry.

This selfsame chassis has now been completed as a full rolling example, and will show off all the virtues of Aston’s bespoke design and construction techniques at Lake Como during the Concorso d’Eleganza, starting today and running through to Sunday.

Perhaps the most important issue concerning the public debut of a ‘running’ One-77 will be the lavishly promoted interior design and details, which the automotive world will be privy to for the first time later today.



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