This year the prestigious British sports car maker Aston Martin is celebrating its centenary year. It’s a good job then that in their 100th anniversary the company is in such good shape financially that it can throw itself such a lavish party. They marked the event with some special exhibits and driving tours, but that wasn’t enough to celebrate such a remarkable occasion. So they went ahead and made a special one-off model.

Now, obviously this car had to pay homage to Aston’s older models, and that’s where things get tricky, because they do have a couple of very iconic models in their portfolio. They have the DB5, the official ride of James Bond, for Christ’s sake! In the end though, they decided to go with the DBR1 race car from 1959; a two-seater speedster race car. That was more relevant than the DB5 because for one thing, that James Bond thing is used to death. What’s more, they’d picked the 2013 Nurburgring 24 Hours race to unveil the new model, and the fact that the CC 100 Speedster is a racing machine goes well with the whole thing.

Designed, developed and built in less than six months at Aston Martin’s global headquarters in Gaydon, the CC 100 looks retro, but boasts modern underpinnings from Aston’s current range. That glorious body draws inspiration from its ancestor in terms of design, but the construction is carbon fiber, hence the overall weight of just 1,200 kg.

The one-off concept has proportions of a true vintage racing car with a length of about 4.5 meters and a width of nearly 2 meters. It sits wide and low, and gives you the exact feel of driving an old racing machine, what with that special cabin, lack of roof and windscreen, and those holes in the sides. It is a truly unique experience, and one that you won’t forget in a hurry.

The CC 100 is not particularly fast, not at least by today’s standards. It has a V12 engine out of the V12 Vantage, mated to a six-speed hydraulically actuated automated sequential manual transmission. That’s a bit of a bummer to be honest. Paddle shifters kind of ruin the whole vintage feel of the thing. It should have come with a proper manual gearbox and a clutch pedal, preferably a very heavy one.

That semi auto ‘box may not be politically correct, but at least it helps you utilize the power that V12 in a very effective way. You can accelerate in this car from 0 to 60 mph in four seconds, there and thereabout, and if you keep your foot in it, you may reach 180 mph. If a bee hits your face at the kind of speed, it’ll probably go right through!

The Aston Martin CC 100 Speedster is a helluva gift, but Aston Deserves it. After years of getting financial uncertainty and deep financial issues they have finally found their groove. Aston recently broke a deal with a new investor who is bringing in a lot of money for new production facilities, which consequently result in new and amazing cars. The CC 100 is reportedly already sold for a seven figure sum.