Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept celebrates Aston Martin’s Centenary (video)

The Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept – built to celebrate AML’s Centenary – has been revealed as a dramatic open Speedster with a V12 engine.

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It’s Aston Martin’s centenary year, and they needed to do something bold. They teased it yesterday and now it’s arrived – the Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Concept – and it’s certainly a statement.

Looking like a modern interpretation of the legendary AM DBR1 Le Mans car from the 1950s, the CC100 is a dramatic ‘Speedster’ concept powered by Aston’s latest V12 and makes its debut – driven by Ulrich Bez – at the 24 Hours of Nurburgring Race event in Germany today (19th May 2013).

Aston put together the CC100 in less than six months (did no one tell them 2013 was Aston’s centenary year until last Christmas?), and roped in carbon fibre specialists Multimatic to create the body and interior from carbon fibre, and Aston Martin used the VHM platform to create the underpinnings for the CC100, and have powered it with the latest version of the V12 AM11 engine with a six-speed sequential gearbox.

Chief Exterior Designer, Miles Nurnberger, said:

The brief was very simple, yet enormously testing: create something that reflects the 100 years of Aston Martin heritage and signals the future of the brand.

The idea of an iconic speedster concept that nods to the Le Mans ? and Nürburgring – winning cars of 1959 soon came, and we have had complete freedom to shape this car.

Those pointers to the future of the Aston Martin brand probably include some of the design elements of the CC100 – the evolving grill, side strake vents and rear lights  – and it probably means Aston Martin building some more overtly sporty cars and probably more ‘Limited Edition’.

We had believed that the CC100 was going to be a very limited run of two cars, but we’re now wondering – as it’s arrived as a ‘Concept’ – if Aston Martin are planning a ‘How many can we sell and for how much’ run depending on interest? McLaren managed to flog 75 SLR Stirling Moss Speedsters, so Aston Martin may be aiming for something similar with the CC100.

Time will tell.