At the 2012 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este Aston Martin brought out a new concept which sucessfully synthesizes the One-77 design cues with the rest of the DB9, DBS, Virage line.

Aston has history of launching new cars at the Villa d’Este event in Italy. The One-77 made its public debut there in 2009 and last year the new V12 Zagato was previewed as a concept car.

The latest Villa d’Este car, the AM310 concept, is understood to be based on the latest development of Aston’s familiar VH platform rather than an all-new architecture. While the new concept car was being paraded at the Concours d'Elegance, the most production-ready test mules of the new car were caught testing at the Nurburgring.

The biggest changes from before are believed to be in the materials used for the construction of the chassis and the bodywork; Aston Martin is known to be considering using a much higher quantity of carbonfibre in its production cars, technology that will be filtered down from the One-77 hypercar.

The influences of the One-77 are clear are in the styling of the AM310 concept. The changes are minimal at the front – which features a tweaked version of Aston’s familiar grille and headlight design and a more pronounced bulge in the bonnet – with the real One-77-inspired flourishes saved for the sides and the rear.

The familiar Aston side vents run almost to the door handles, a reference to the deeply sculpted doors of the One-77. The Nurburgring test mules also reveal the new rear light design, which is unmistakably One-77.

The new concept is powered by the latest version of Aston’s familiar V12 engine. No power figure has been confirmed, but it’s understood to be in excess of 550bhp.

Aston kept the interior of the new concept under wraps at Villa d’Este. But it is understood to be all-new both in design and technology, addressing one of the main problems of the current DBS.

The DBS replacement is set to be revealed ahead of its first public outing at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance event in California in August.

It will go on sale in 2013, leading Aston Martin’s centenary celebrations. The chassis, engine, styling and interior improvements introduced first on the new Aston flagship will then be rolled out across the rest of the range before the middle of the decade.