Aston Martin One-77: Automotive Art

Ben Oliver checks out the ultra-exclusive One-77, probably the greatest Aston Martin that will ever be made

This is not a car. Not according to Aston Martin, anyway. It’s billing its new One-77 hypercar as a work of automotive art. And if you’re prepared to write a cheque for £1.2 million (approximately HK$14.6 million) the blue-blooded British sports car maker won’t regard you as simply another customer; you’ll be a patron. Only 77 will be made – Aston boss Dr Ulrich Bez believes seven is a lucky number – and so far around 55 very wealthy buyers have handed over the £200,000 deposit. The One-77 isn’t, Aston insists, a record-breaker like the similarly priced Bugatti Veyron. It’s simply the very best car Aston can build; inspired styling meets obsessive-compulsive engineering, and all finished to the patron’s precise requirements.

The one prototype built so far is being shipped and flown to other serious car collectors around the world: spend this much on a car – sorry, artwork – and the test drive comes to you. One buyer has ordered two; one to drive, the other, stripped of its hand-rolled aluminium bodywork, to be hung on the wall of his home. Car, or art? Maybe the One-77 blurs the line.

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