Aston Martin One-77

[martinbo]

Ja - to go ahead and state the obvious; Bugatti has a rich history of association with speed combined with luxury and excess. Rolls Royce does not have this historical association. A Bentley-badged Veyron fighter would be more palatable. A hypercar Rolls Royce fitted with a twin-turbo BMW V12 wrapped exclusively in carbon fibre would be the equivalent of automotive heresy.

The Veyron had more than just a protracted and troublesome gestation that included R&D on an epic scale to bring it to market. It had the will and half-crazed impetus of the most powerful man in VW forcing it to succeed. Well, at least from a performance and technology deliverable point of view.

Fundamental to the Veyron's success is the very unique engine technology that VW had at its disposal in the form of the W configuration. It is this concept that enabled VW to scale the technology feasibly to the size of a 736 kW quad-turbo, 16 cylinder, 8.0 litre engine whilst keeping the internal dimensions and forces within the ambit of a high performance engine. An 8.0 litre V12 would have a cubic capacity per cylinder far in excess of what BMW deems as being optimum for a performance engine: 666 cc vs. 500cc per cylinder.

What's 8.0 litres divided by 16 cylinders? Yup. 500cc.

 

[EnI]

Rolls Royce sport car - I imagine this car to be something like sportier version of Continental GT/ Mercedes CL, of course a step above them. Not really a true Veyron competitor..

I have no info what kind of car that would be. I'm only sure it won't be a mid-engine supercar. I'm also not sure will it top Veyron's performance figures, yet it will definitely be pricier.

In that case you can't charge 5 million € for ''half Rolls half BMW''..Just the price doesn't make a car immediately exclusive IMO.

There's no other RR than "half Rolls half BMW" ones. That's a sad fact. Contemporary Royces feature more than many BMW solutions & parts. Mainly under the skin.

 

[SDNR]

^ 5 million Euros seems excessive.

It is kind of tacky to be the most expensive just for the sake of being the most expensive.

Besides, if anyone (who the hell are we talking about here?) actually wanted to waste 5 million Euro on a Rolls, they could have a unique one built now.

 

[EnI]

^

As said: every produced car would be unique - so no two cars would be same. Of course additionally some individualization would be possible.

Why RR / BMW are considering that (and who are the crazy potential buyers)?

When RR concepts were introduced some RR customers were ready to pay enormous sums to buy the particular concept car. I'm sure RR / BMW will be able to make an auction, and sell eg. 100EX for at least 20 million Euros. But Concept cars are not for sale, (un)fortunately. Therefore RR are considering to coach-build about 50 examples of unique super-sporty & super-luxury RR - for a ridiculous starting price of 5 million euros. I'm sure the delivery is included in the price.

Btw, not only BMW are offering RR customers exceptional options of customization of Phantom cars, they also offer these buyers a design services by DesignWorks: eg. designing interior for Phantom garage, or the jet interior, or the yacht interiors, special RR-badged cases etc etc ... All to fit the customized RR Phantom etc.

 

[martinbo]

Shoulda bought Aston Martin, shoulda bought Aston Martin, laa laa la-la-laaa shoulda bought Aston Martin.

 

[EnI]

Shoulda bought Aston Martin, shoulda bought Aston Martin, la la la la la shoulda bought Aston Martin.

BMW AG wanted, BMW AG wanted, BMW AG wanted, lalalalalala ... but Ford insisted to retain some stake in the AM Ltd., and to get a right of first refusal.

BMW AG said to Ford: "Go f..k yourselves!"

Since they wanted to integrate the AM division fully into BMW Group: yet with FORD still having a stake in AM Ltd. that was not possible at all!

 

[martinbo]

Did Ford retain a stake within AM Ltd in the TATA deal?

 

[Deleted member 25]

Tata Deal ?

 

[coolraoul]

The question of a super-car made by Rolls-Royce could be summarized in one question:
How the hell would they integrate the Rolls-Royce upright grille?

 

[Centurion]

I'm sorry guys but I don't see a €5 million Roller making it's way to production. No car in the world can justify such a price unless it can travel at light speed, can become invisible or can fly. It's all a big NO, this supposed Roller is just a fantasy. The only way you can reach the price of such a car is you create something that looks like a concept car and transfer all the R&D cost to the customers paying for the entire charade.

Besides that, there is very little money to make in a car like that, and judging by the cost cutting plans BMW have announced I can't see how they would consider such a project.

This kind of reminds me of the a guy in a middle east who offered Cadillac $20 000 000 for the Cadillac SIXTEEN Concept.

 

[LaArtist]

I would belive more in a Roller City Car than this..haha

 

[Centurion]

Autocar interview with David Richards

What's the purpose of Aston Martin One-77?

DR: It's a very special car for customers who aren't interested in a conventional car purchase, who want to take the bespoke experience to a higher level. Every car will be entirely individual.

Where did the idea of revealing the One-77 via newspaper ads come from?

DR: Like most aspects of the project, it was driven by [Aston CEO] Ulrich Bez. It's a great way of raising awareness - though of course we already have a pretty good line on the 500 or so individuals who'll be interested in a car like this.
>> Get more details on the Aston Martin One-77

Will you use a carbon chassis for other Aston Martin models?

DR: It definitely shows a direction we think is interesting. Our experience in building the new car will give us more information about that.

Is the Aston Martin One-77 a technology demonstrator in other ways?

DR: Definitely. It's light, with a target weight around 1500kg, and it aerodynamics are pretty special too. It's going to be extremely quick, but it'll also be very efficient.

Has anyone bought a One-77 yet?

DR: I can't say just yet.

 

[Centurion]

I hope it's not going to be an enlarged DB9. The DBS is overpriced as it is, so I hope this car is going to be worth it's dough.

 

[SDNR]

BMW AG said to Ford: "Go f..k yourselves!"

Ahem, didn't you ban me a while ago for saying precisely that?

 

[EnI]

Ahem, didn't you ban me a while ago for saying precisely that?

I just presented a quote, while you told that directly to the mod team.

Did Ford retain a stake within AM Ltd in the TATA deal?

???? AM wasn't sold to TATA. Jaguar & Land Rover were.
AM was sold to a consortium led by Prodrive's David Richards (although Prodrive has no financial involvement in the deal!).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aston_Martin#cite_note-13 The other members of consortium are also John Sinders (an Aston Martin collector), and two Kuwait investment companies). Ford retain about 8% share in AM Ltd., and got a right of first refusal.

 

[Sunny]

That AM ad reminds me of the "I am Rich" app for IPhone.

'I Am Rich' Goes Broke In Apple Store - The Channel Wire - IT Channel News And Views by CRN and VARBusiness

 

[SCOTT27]

Could Rolls-Royce bring out a car of this nature , yes they probably could.
Look at the Phantom Coupe and you will see that particular attention has been made to how the car performs dynamically , something that will be replicated in the upcoming RR04 or 102EX as it appears @Geneva in 2009.

The next sedan will spawn an additional Coupe and Drophead Coupe models and possibly a CS Concept type low roof four door which could gain the name WRAITH. Proposals for this car show a very swept back RR grille to indicate that it is a very different take on a regular Rolls-Royce.
A ltd edition Rolls-Royce is entirely feasible . But as Rolls-Royce motor cars have seperate design and development institutions from BMW , All future Rolls-Royce's are developed one at a time.

As for Aston Martin it is true we were interested but only as one company and no stake. From the early 2000's BMW were keen to have 3 icons in its group portfolio MINI , Range Rover and of course Rolls-Royce. We know where we ended up but BMW could have taken Land Rover back if it was not heavily interwined with Jaguar meaning it is impossible to split the companies as they all share engines , technology and componentry.
BMW Had big plans for the Range Rover, had it been kept within BMW Group it is true that right now you would have a Range Rover powered by a BMW V12 or detuned RR V12 engine. It was engineered to accept such an engine , even BMW had a pre-production model with the V12 and an interior by BMW's "individual" programme. It was highly impressive , although I am not sure if the car went to Ford or if BMW had it destroyed.

As for Aston Martin the brand would be positioned above BMW and Below Rolls-Royce , Production would be shared with Rolls-Royce @ Goodwood for additional models - ie Rapide where space would be a factor

Of course this was then and if we had taken Aston Martin into BMW Group then it is very possible that the BMW CS would probably never have been confirmed for production.
As before we talk to other manufacturers about co-operation and we listen , intently.
We dont always say yes.

 

[martinbo]

Sorry Eni - my mind was elsewhere at the time of the post. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Cashmere]

BMW AG are still seriously considering to possibly offer a highly exclusive Rolls-Royce ultra-performance & ultra-luxury sports car. A true Bugatti Veyron fighter. A ridiculously expensive strictly limited-production car.

The most important individual RR buyers have already been contacted personally to confirm an interest in such a car - and possibly pre-order it. Since the project will only get the green line if all the free slots are filled. BMW do not want some manipulators buy a car - therefore most important RR customers were contacted: since this car will be strictly for them only. No P.Diddy / David Beckham kind of clientele, or eg. collectors like J. Leno.

The rumor is there will be only 50 cars produced - all 50 with different color / trim / upholstery etc combination: so no even 2 cars will be same.

The price is rumored to start at 5 million Euros ... up to 6 millions with some super-weird materials used: eg. genuine pearl coated trim, or trim made of 500 year old wood etc etc.

The rumored names: Whisper, Ecstasy, Dawn.

 

[Zafiro]

I dont know how I missed this thread but the One-77 looking very promising.
Bring it on!