Mystery buyer places an order for 10 Aston Martin One-77s

15-May-2010 • Bond Style

Bond would say itâs excessive, but Aston Martin wonât say anything. However, sources within the company report that one buyer has placed what is probably the biggest order in the marqueâs history, explains the Times

The mystery customer has ordered 10 Aston Martin One-77 supercars, which are of limited edition and will cost Â£1.2m apiece when sales start later this year. The huge order accounts for 13% of the total production run of 77 cars, and a bill for Â£12m. The buyer, who is believed to be of Middle Eastern origin, has specified a different colour scheme and cabin trim for each car.

The One-77 was revealed last year by the Warwickshire-based company. It has been designed to rival such hypercars as the Bugatti Veyron and Lamborghini Reventon, both of which forged a new class of Â£1m-plus vehicles. It will feature a 7.3-litre V12 engine producing 700bhp â enough to give it a top speed of about 220mph and a 0-60mph acceleration time of 3.5 seconds. It is easily the most extreme Aston to date.

The company was unusually shy about revealing details of the car, teasing journalists and buyers alike with hints about its final specification. It even went to the length of exhibiting the car at a motor show covered in drapes to reveal its shape but nothing else. The hype and expectation appear to have worked in Astonâs favour.

The 10-car buyer is not the only customer to place multiple orders for the One-77, according to sources within the company. At the 2009 Geneva motor show, where the car was revealed for the first time, one excited visitor was heard haggling for âtwo for Â£2mâ. Aston says 65 of the 77 cars are now spoken for.

With the cars selling so quickly, Aston will be hard pressed to hold any back. A potential problem for Daniel Craig: if the British superspy isnât driving a One-77 in the next James Bond film, heâll no doubt feel short-changed.