Aston Martin CC100 Speedster Centenary Edition

By Ganesh

Updated: Saturday, February 1, 2014, 11:11 [IST]

Aston Martin took the veils off its one-off CC100 Speedster on May 19th as a 100th birthday gift to itself. The CC100 stands for Concept Car 100. The CC100 Speedster is designed after the iconic Aston Martin Le Mans winning race car, the 1959 DBR1.

"I have nicknamed it 'DBR100' because of its affinity to the great 1959 race-winning cars and, of course, our 100-year anniversary in 2013. "But this car is more, even, than a simple 'birthday present' to ourselves: it shows that the soul of Aston Martin - the thing that differentiates us from all the other carmakers out there - is as powerful as ever and I very much hope that everyone who catches a glimpse of it at the Nürburgring today enjoys seeing it," said Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez.

While taking design inspiration from an iconic speedster from the past, the CC100 Speedster is also a pointer towards Aston Martin's future design direction. More about the CC100 Speedster in the gallery below.

Aston Martin CC100 Speedster is built on the V12 Vantage platform and is also powered by the AM11 V12 engine.

The V12 is a naturally aspirated 6.0 liter unit that is mated to a 6 speed automatic sequential manual transmission, controlled via paddle shifters on the steering column.

The CC100 Speedster is capable of reaching 96 km/h in 4 seconds and has a limited top speed of 290 km/h.

Aston Martin introduced the CC100 Speedster with Dr Ulrich Bez driving it around Nürburgring Nordschleife at the 24 Hours of Nürburgring race.

Also giving company to the CC100 Speedster was the 1959 DBR1, which was driven by non other than racing legend Sir Stirling Moss.

Dr Bez added: "The future of Aston Martin is, very clearly, more exciting now than perhaps at any time in its history and I'm looking forward to seeing the excitement and anticipation that CC100 creates among Aston Martin owners and enthusiasts worldwide."