About two years in the past, Tim Burton, or as most of you could know him by his YouTube identify Shmee 150, stood inside a particular storage of a house in sunny Arizona, beaming at a satin chrome Aston Martin One-77. Nonetheless, this wasn’t simply any different One-77, however a automobile that shouldn’t exist: the so-called ‘78th One-77.
Chassis #10711: The Aston Martin One-77 Prototype That Refused to Retire
On paper, sure, Aston Martin solely made 77 buyer vehicles of its One-77. Nonetheless, as Burton reveals within the video, this specific instance, beforehand owned by James “artvandelay” on Instagram, is kind of important: a resurrected improvement prototype that was made street authorized. Constructed initially as certainly one of simply 10 take a look at vehicles, Chassis #10711 noticed motion on the Nürburgring, Le Mans, and Nardo, logging almost 25,000 take a look at miles, which makes it the very best mileage One-77 in existence.
This automobile additionally served as a media mule, and made the rounds at occasions and venues like Geneva, Goodwood, and Monterey again within the day, earlier than finally fading into company obscurity as this specific chassis caught hearth throughout its stint as a Security Automotive. Finally, Aston Martin determined to carry the automobile again to life after a suggestion was made by a collector from Africa, who refused supply. This offered James with the chance to amass the automobile. Whereas most improvement vehicles finish their days both in crash labs or storage, AM/01-Professional was stripped to its bones and was refreshed inside out with a brand new grille, new wheels, a rear diffuser, headlights, and taillights, all whereas retaining the Cosworth-tuned 7.3-liter V12 and transmission.
This powerplant was as soon as topped essentially the most highly effective naturally aspirated engine on this planet, with 750 horsepower and 553 pound-feet of torque on faucet. Its carbon monocoque, developed by Multimatic, meant a curb weight of simply shy of three,600 kilos. 0-60 mph occurs in beneath 3.7 seconds, and the highest velocity is rated at 220+ mph. Nonetheless distinctive figures in 2025.
Regardless of being over a decade previous, stuff just like the push-rod suspension seen via the clear rear glass, the absolutely adjustable dampers, carbon ceramic brakes, mixed with that radically hand-formed aluminium outer shell and space-age trying cabin, implies that the One-77 stays evocative to at the present time. Chief engineer Chris Porritt’s aim with the automobile was to carry DTM race automobile dynamics to the street in an beautiful front-engine GT automobile, or as I prefer to name it, Gentleman’s Specific.
A Legacy of Exclusivity
However what actually units this automobile aside are a few of the issues that the manufacturing One-77s by no means bought. Suppose pre-production aero tweaks, and experimental ECU maps. Upon buying the automobile, James wrapped the unique copper pearl paint in satin chrome. He additionally went to nice lengths to unearth this automobile’s lineage whereas researching One-77s.
“My intent was all the time to teach the automotive group,” – mentioned James “artvandelay”
Whereas James has since offered the automobile, throughout his possession, he made it his mission to meticulously doc the automobile’s distinctive provenance. He had intensive literature concerning the automobile available, together with its look on the Feb 2012 cowl of duPont REGISTRY (déja vu?), an authentic Aston gross sales brochure, and even a pair of customized Cole Haan footwear, given out on the 2009 media launch occasion, and different memorabilia.
So there you’ve got it, the 78th One-77. Whereas the automobile’s whereabouts are at the moment unknown, what’s left behind is a automobile with an unbelievable story, and one which was extensively documented by James. From a technical standpoint, chassis #10711 performed a pivotal function within the One-77 story and represents the genesis of this unbelievable hypercar from Aston Martin, as a result of the identical staff that labored on it will go on to develop future high-end Aston Martins just like the Vulcan and Victor.
Photographs: Aston Martin, Artvandelay
