Aston Martin is really struggling at the moment. Discounts abound (particularly on ’08 model year cars – you can have a V8 Vantage Roadster for not much over £60k, and a DB9 for £75k), and new car sales are as rare as hens teeth. Not surprisingly, there have been deep job cuts, and the dealer network is really struggling to survive. There are also rumours around, although Aston Martin have flat denied it, that a whole heap of unsold DB9s have been flogged off at £60k each to a city consortium.
So we know Aston are struggling (and they’re far from alone), which is so sad. They make great cars – probably the most beautiful on the planet – and in normal circumstances they should be thriving. But they’re not, and word has reached us today from a source at Aston Martin that the One-77 project has been canned.
The One-77 was Aston’s Reventon. But unlike the Reventon it was a bespoke car, custom made and unlike any other Aston currently in production. It was to feature a 700bhp V12 and cost a whopping £1,000,000 + tax.
When Aston revealed the car, they claimed that they had buyers for all 77 that were to be made. But it later became clear that they just had ‘Serious’ enquiries on the car. How many £200k deposits they actually took is unknown, but our guess is very few.
And now we’re told, from a well-placed source, that in light of the company’s current financial plight, they have taken the decision to can the project indefinitely.
But a spokesman for Aston Martin we spoke to this morning said “Absolute Rubbish! I can categorically deny it”. He went on to add that Aston Martin intends to launch more information on the One-77 at Geneva next month. When asked if that meant they would show the car, he said “All I can tell you is that there will be something very physical to show on Press Day 1”.
So, the plot thickens!
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