When it comes to luxury and sporty performance, many of us look no further than Aston Martin. The iconic British brand has been a staple of the fast car world for many years. Plus, it's also seen as a brand that offers a great level of luxury alongside its performance. Cars such as the DB9 and the Vantage symbolize everything that the British company is about. However, some of the companys cars are not as well known. And one of those is the Aston Martin One-77.

Aston Martin only ever produced 77 road-legal iterations of this car. It's one of the rarest cars to ever come from the doors of their factory floor at Gaydon. It also happens to be one of the most beautiful cars that Aston Martin has made in its entire history. However, there is now a 78th member of that road-legal fleet. In a video by High Mileage Reviews on YouTube, we have heard how one of the original prototypes and test vehicles was actually turned into the 78th road-legal member of the fleet. And with over 25,000 miles on the clock, this is also the highest mileage member of the One-77 fleet.

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What Exactly Is The Aston Martin One-77 All About?

The One-77 is a fascinating car. The car was the flagship, high performance supercar of the 2010s. It was an incredibly exclusive and expensive machine, with a 7.3-liter V12 engine under the hood. That engine produces 750 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. This made it the most powerful, naturally aspirated engine in the world at the time of its inception. The One-77 was not just a reworked DBS either with a new engine either. Aston Martin gave this car a whole new chassis.

The chassis featured a carbon fiber monocoque and inboard, pushrod suspension. What you would see on a Formula 1 car. That alone was enough to warrant the $1 million price tag. As was the incredible rarity of this car. Just 77 were in fact made for the road. Although the addition of this One-77 prototype to the fleet really should mean the car is actually called the One-78! How on earth did this 23,000 miler become a road-legal car then? Well, it all started on September 13th 2010 when this particular car joined the test fleet as the 11th and final member of that fleet.

The Life Of An Aston Martin One-77 Prototype

Aston Martin One-77 Rear View
via High Mileage Reviews

This car spent most of its early life at the racetrack, conducting various tests for Aston Martin. A year after its birth, the car had accumulated some 14,000 miles during some pretty rigorous endurance testing that included running at the Nürburgring. The car also made its way to Monterrey Car Week and other events in the United States. By 2012, the car had 22,000 miles on the clock making it the most travelled One-77 of them all at that point. Plus, it was also the most published One-77 as well.

The car even appeared on the cover of the February 2012 edition of the duPont Registry. This car then is incredibly well known by many, and it had plenty of years ahead of it too when it became the safety car for the Aston Martin Racing Festival at Le Mans in 2015. The car also went into retirement, and in 2017 the car had some 23,835 miles on the clock. This was quite a turning point for the Aston Martin. As it went from becoming a prototype, to a production car. Not the normal path for a car like this that may normally end up in a museum.

The Path To Road Worthiness For The One-77

Aston Martin One-77 Front Close Up View
via High Mileage Reviews

The car was then sold on to a private owner in the United States, for restoration to roadworthy status. This meant that there were now 78 road legal versions of the One-77 on the road. Aston Martin themselves conducted the restoration to get the car back on the road. Resprayed with a new Copper Pearl paint, and with new wheels, headlights and more, the Aston Martin looked as good as new. The car is now sadly wrapped, but it does at least protect the paint underneath and it still looks sensational.

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The Only One-77 Prototype On The Road Today

Aston Martin One-77 Interior
via High Mileage Reviews

Amazingly, the drivetrain is still the original one, retaining the testing history of this car. This has become the only prototype from that testing fleet to become road legal. In fact, the history of the other prototypes is not well known. We do know that one became the Aston Martin Victor, and another the One-77R. This example though has lived a happy life after its retirement from Aston Martin. It is one of just seven examples of the car registered in the United States. The car has since had a $45,000 AC repair, but other than that, the One-77 has had a relatively faultless and enjoyable life away from the Aston Martin test team.

Source: High Mileage Reviews