21 June, Newport Pagnell, UK: A multi-million pound never-before-seen collection of rare, valuable and exotic Aston Martin sports cars has come together at Aston Martin Works. The assembly of models represents a selection of some of the most compelling and desirable cars created by the brand over the last 15 years, and stands out in particular for its immense rarity and huge value.
Aston Martin Works, the historic home of the sports car maker and the place where around 13,000 cars were hand-built over the course of around 50 years, now provides both new and heritage cars sales services to collectors worldwide and, over the course of the last few months, the team there has been carefully curating this unprecedented selection of modern classics.
Justin Pearce, General Sales Manager at Aston Martin Works, explained: “Pulling together this collection of our more recent rarities – including our first true hypercar – has been a long and careful labour of love, and I am thrilled that we have finally been able to unite these Aston Martins for what I believe to be is the first time in a sales context.
“The phrase ‘spoilt for choice’ I think quite rightly springs to mind. I believe it is highly unlikely we will see this particular grouping of the marque’s modern classics together again in a showroom anywhere in the world anytime soon, and it seems to me only fitting that they are offered to the market at the historic home of the brand.”
One-77
The most exclusive Aston Martin of the ‘Gaydon era’, One-77 was limited to 77 unique examples. Tantalisingly, the first glimpse the world got of the One-77 hypercar was a maquette of the new car at the 2008 Paris Motor Show, three quarters hidden by a grey pin-stripe fabric cover with only a glimpse of the front right side coyly peeping out. The full picture was revealed at the March 2009 Geneva Motor Show, where a metallic blue mockup and rolling chassis with its entire powertrain were on display.
The finished car made its bow in late April 2009 at the Concorso d’Eleganza Ville d’Este on the shores of Lake Como, winning the Design Award for Concept Cars and Prototypes.
Fusing advanced technology with stunning design, the million-pound, 7.3-litre V12 One-77 was revealed as the fastest Aston Martin yet created, with a top speed of 220 mph. It represents what is possibly the world’s most desirable automotive art form, with an immensely rigid lightweight carbon fibre monocoque clad in a seamless bodyshell handcrafted from aluminium.
V12 Zagato
Unveiled in May 2011 as a natural successor to the famous Zagato Aston Martins of the past, V12 Zagato was developed using a combination of the latest computer-aided modelling techniques and the time-honoured method of hand-sculpted clays to combine traditional styling cues from Aston Martin and Zagato into one cohesive shape.
Sharing its mechanical components with V12 Vantage, the achingly beautiful 6.0-litre V12-engined Zagato was clad in a hand-crafted aluminium and carbon fibre skin featuring elements seen on previous cars from the Milanese carrozzeria such as the ‘double-bubble’ roof and short body overhangs.
Revealed at the prestigious Villa d’Este Concours in May 2011 the 190 mph V12 Zagato was awarded the Concorso d’Eleganza trophy, and then went on to prove its sporting credentials at the Nürburgring where two endurance racing versions finished fifth and sixth overall in the annual 24-hour race on the challenging German circuit.
Vantage GT12
When it was unveiled in 2015 the track-inspired Vantage GT12 was nothing less than the most potent and uncompromising Vantage to date. With production strictly limited to just 100 examples, the model combined all of Aston Martin’s learning from its years of sports car competition around the globe to produce its most performance focused road-going Vantage.
Equipped with a more powerful iteration of the brand’s 6.0-litre V12 engine which is capable of generating up to 600 PS, the car weighs in at 100 kg less than a standard V12 Vantage S. Comprehensively re-engineered, as well as significantly restyled, the GT3-inspired special edition was lower and wider than any of its siblings in the Vantage family of the time.
Thoroughly equipped with cutting edge motorsport-inspired features, from the extensive use of carbon fibre inside and out to the track-focused aerodynamics pack – which includes a prominent rear wing and pronounced front splitter – this race-derived Vantage brought more focused and uncompromising capability and styling to a road-going Aston Martin.
Vantage GT8
All Aston Martin road cars possess some of the sporting DNA that runs through the brand’s 110-year history, but the company’s most extreme models draw directly from that knowledge and passion to deliver something altogether more overt in looks and ability. The Vantage GT8 did just that.
Unveiled in 2016, and inspired and influenced by the 2016 Aston Martin V8 Vantage GTE race car, the Vantage GT8 remains a true thoroughbred. The lightest and most powerful V8 Vantage then offered, the Vantage GT8’s dramatically sculpted carbon fibre bodywork was shaped by race-bred aerodynamic function. With a super-sharp chassis tuned for track-focused agility, powered by a revised 446 PS version of Aston Martin’s rousing 4.7-litre V8, the Vantage GT8 has unmistakable style, a no-nonsense stance and a driving experience that’s second to none in its class.
