Want to save the planet? Buy a £1.6m, 750bhp Aston Martin One-77 hypercar

ULTRA-FAST, ultra-expensive supercars don’t get the best rap in today’s environmentally-aware times. However, the sale of a Aston Martin One-77 could prove it’s possible to buy a high-end hypercar with an eco-friendly conscience.

According to RM Sotheby’s, which is auctioning the One-77 on November 30 during the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix race weekend, all of the proceeds generated from the sale will be donated to charity via the Auction4Wildlife initiative.

More specifically, the funds will be allocated to the non-profit African Parks initiative, which — as its name suggests — helps maintain and preserve national wildlife parks and conservation areas across Africa. The Aston Martin’s current owner, the Hong Kong-born businessman Markus Jebsen, is a member of African Parks’ Asia Pacific Advisory Group, which perhaps explains how such an ultra-exclusive model (only 77 were produced, hence the name) became available for sale.

While the One-77 will be offered with no reserve price when it goes under the hammer next month, RM Sotheby’s is expecting the car to change hands for a sizeable sum. According to the auction house’s own estimates, the former Aston Martin flagship could sell for up to $2m, or £1.63m at current exchange rates.

Regardless of the final hammer price, due to its exclusivity this Aston Martin One-77 will be a very special piece of kit for its lucky new owner. By some margin, the One-77 is one of the wildest Aston Martins of the modern era, featuring a monster of an engine: a 7.3-litre V12 that produces 750bhp and 553 lb ft of torque.

Until the 760bhp Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato and 1,160bhp Aston Martin Valkyrie arrive, the One-77’s huge engine retains the honour of being the most powerful fitted to an Aston Martin road car. As no verified top speed stats have been announced for the Valkyrie, the 220mph One-77 is also still Aston’s fastest road car to date.

It also introduced plenty of firsts for an Aston road car, including a carbon fibre monocoque chassis and motor sport-style pushrod suspension. It’s also one of the most exquisitely-styled Astons of all time.

RM Sotheby’s claims this particular example from 2011 was the 38th to be completed and appears to have lived an extremely pampered life, even by extremely high-end supercar standards. Its odometer says the car has less than 620 miles on the clock, meaning it’s only been driven 77 miles per year, on average, since it left the Aston Martin factory in Gaydon, Warwickshire.

RM Sotheby’s car specialist Nick Wiles said: “We are tremendously honoured to work with Auction4Wildlife to raise funds for an organisation as worthy as African Parks. An Aston Martin One-77 is an incredibly rare and special car, one that has been offered at auction on less than a handful of occasions and one that is made all the more desirable by its benefit to a global effort.”

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