Aston Martin unveil centenary concept car

The 'CC100 Speedster Concept' made its world debut with a lap of Germany's famous Nurburgring Nordschliefe ahead of the weekend's ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nurburgring race. The concept lapped the circuit together with its inspiration - a 1959 Aston Martin DBR1 works racer, driven by no less than Stirling Moss.

Speaking at the unveiling of the 6.0-litre V12-powered concept, Aston Martin CEO, Dr. Ulrich Bez said, "CC100 is the epitome of everything that is great about Aston Martin. It represents our fantastic sporting heritage, our exceptional design capability, our superb engineering know-how, and above all, our adventurous spirit!"

The CC100 Speedster Concept was designed and built in less than six months, Aston partnering with key supplier, Multimac Inc., to bring the centenary special to fruition, under the direction of Special Projects and Motorsport Director, David King. The design is the joint effort of Aston Martin's Design Director, Marek Reichman, as well as Chief Exterior Designer, Miles Nurnberger.

"The brief was simple, yet enormously testing; create something that reflects the 100 years of Aston Martin heritage and signals the future of the brand," Nurnberger explained.

Power for the CC100 Speedster Concept comes from the latest-generation naturally-aspirated AM11 V12 petrol engine, mated to a 6-speed automated sequential manual. Shifting of the lightweight, race-focused transmission is done by column-mounted paddle shifts.

Aston Martin claim a 0-100kph sprint time of just over 4 seconds, and a limited top speed of 289 kph (180mph).

Images: Aston Martin