Aston Martin is celebrating its centenary in world-class style with the debut today (19 May) of the exceptional CC100 Speedster Concept.

Created as a stunning celebration of the great British brand's 100 years of sports car excellence the one-off CC100 looks both to the past and the DBR1 – Aston Martin's greatest sporting triumph on the track – and to the future with its teasing glimpses of potential future design direction.

The 6.0-litre V12-powered concept car today makes its world debut by completing a lap of the famous Nordschleife at Germany's ADAC Zurich 24 Hours of Nürburgring race. It is lapping the circuit together with the 1000km race-winning 1959 DBR1 with British racing legend Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel. It is the most tangible expression yet of the brand's year-long 2013 centenary celebrations.

Viewed by tens of thousands of lucky spectators in Germany, the radical speedster is being driven today by Aston Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez. He 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!

"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 car makers 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."

Designed and constructed in fewer than six months at Aston Martin's global headquarters in Gaydon, working with key supplier Multimatic Inc, under the leadership of Special Projects and Motorsport Director David King, the finished look of the two-seater CC100 is the work of Design Director Marek Reichman working alongside the brand's Chief Exterior Designer Miles Nurnberger.

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

"The idea of an iconic speedster concept that nods to the Le Mans − and Nürburgring – winning cars of 1959 soon came, and we have had complete freedom to shape this car."

Marek Reichman said: "I'm extremely proud of the entire team at Gaydon for creating this remarkable sports car concept in such a short time.

"The need to create a truly fitting tribute to 100 years of the Aston Martin brand has brought out the creativity and talent that makes Aston Martin such an exceptional luxury sports car maker."

Measuring almost four and a half metres nose to tail, and more than two metres wide (including mirrors) the Speedster Concept body is a classic example of the almost infinitely flexible nature of Aston Martin's trademark Vertical Horizontal engineering philosophy.

With a body and interior crafted from carbon fibre, tooled and provided by low volume specialists Multimatic, the CC100 utilises the latest generation AM11 naturally aspirated V12 gasoline engine mated to a six-speed hydraulically actuated automated sequential manual transmission. Controlled via steering column-mounted paddle shifts the lightweight 'box delivers truly sporting changes perfectly suited to the Speedster's track-focused nature.

The drivetrain will power the CC100 from rest to 62 mph in a little over four seconds, while the top speed is limited to 180 mph.

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."

The Aston Martin brand has been around for many years, and always been recognized as a high-end, luxury sports car brand, with amazing road cars, but also with at least as impressive race cars, with a Palmares of winning the most prestigious races known to date, like the Aston Martin DBR1 from the Fifties, that not only won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 1,000 km of Nürburgring in 1959, but also the latter both in 1957 and 1958.

The Aston Martin DBR1 debuted back in 1956 and become one of the most successful racecars on the scene, with some impressive drivers behind the wheel, for instance at the Spa Sportscar Race (1957, Tony Brooks); the Goodwood Tourist Trophy (1958, Sir Stirling Moss, Tony Brookes; 1959, Sir Stirling Moss, Carrol Shelby, Jack Fairman); and the 1000 Km at the Nurburgring (1959, Sir Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman) in the same year as that famous Le Mans triumph which culminated in Aston Martin taking the World Sportscar Championship.

Back in the late Fifties, this 3-0 Liter straight-six engine was already capable of reaching speeds over 150 Mph, only five were ever made, four of them used by Aston Martin Works themselves, and one as a private entry … none of them were ever legal to drive on the open road, however, this changes today with the introduction of the Aston Martin V12 Speedster DBR1 specification.

For this new limited-edition Aston Martin, only 88 units will be available to customers worldwide, there is only one shade that would be appropriate … Aston Martin Racing Green, complemented with Clubsport White pinstripe and roundels, a Satin Silver anodized grille with Clubsport lipstick graphic, Conker saddle leather, and Viridian Green technical textile/Caithness leather … as a reminder of what made the classic DBR1 the undisputed icon almost seventy years ago.

It seems open-top cars without a windshield are ‘en vogue’ these days, and this new Aston Martin V12 Speedster DBR1 is no exception, there is no protection from the elements inside this purposeful looking car, this car is meant to go fast without compromise, still, Aston Martin gives you the option of wearing a bespoke, color-coded helmet for both the driver and the passenger, sitting under transparent windows.On the interior, we’ll find a mixture of gloss carbon fiber, Caithness Green leather, and satin silver brushed aluminum switchgear in the V12 Speedster’s open cabin that further underlines the homage to the motoring legend from the Fifties, while the massive 21-inch Satin black diamond polished wheels bring us back to the present day.

Each of the 88 units of this Aston Martin V12 Speedster will be hand-built at the Gaydon headquarters in the UK, after spending over 50 hours to create the perfect paint finish, the lucky customers will receive their car by mid-2021, and they might want to consider wearing those helmets, as this car, with no windshield or roof of any kind, is capable of reaching a top speed of 198 mph, the 700 PS V12 Twin Turbo engine with a capacity of 5.2-Liter puts down an acceleration of 0 to 62 mph in just 3.4 seconds …