Aston Martin's Kuwaiti Owner Acquires 40% of Prodrive

Kuwaiti investment firm, The Investment Dar Company (TID) has acquired a 40% stake in Prodrive, a UK-based engineering company with branches in Australia and the Asia Pacific region. The move comes to no surprise as in 2007, Prodrive founder and chairman David Richards led a consortium which saw TID get hold of Aston Martin from FoMoCo and Richards become chairman of the company. As part of the agreement between the two firms, David Richards will remain the majority shareholder in Prodrive and Mahmoud Samy from TID will join the board of the company.

"We have followed Prodrive's success through the Subaru and Aston Martin motorsport programs and seen the commitment and dedication of all the employees in every aspect of the business," said Mahmoud Samy. "Prodrive has a great heritage and David has a clear vision for growing the business. We look forward to working closely with David and his management team to realize their goals," he added.

David Richards said: "Through Aston Martin, I have worked closely with TID for the last two years. As a result TID has also gained a great insight into Prodrive's expertise and our culture. They very much share our vision for the business and the passion for what we do. With their experience and understanding of the motor industry, they will play a significant role in the long term development of the business."

Aston Martin One-77 Supercar Photos Leaked!

So much for Aston Martins attempts to keep its forthcoming One-77 supercar (partially) under covers; a Dutch website has just unleashed a set of pictures revealing all the juicy design details of the limited edition model. Judging by the black headlights, we gather that these photos depict a prototype version -quite possibly even a clay model. Nevertheless, this is what the One-77 will look like when it hits the roads sometime in 2009.

While clearly recognizable as a modern Aston Martin, the One-77 is more aggressively styled than its less extravagant stable mates. Unique features include the Xtra large side air vents which sort of bring to mind the ones found on the SLR McLaren and the 'flat-faced' front end with the tear-like air vents under the headlamps.

According to the British firm, the One-77 is based on a sophisticated carbon fibre chassis with a handcrafted aluminium body and it is equipped with a 7.3 litre V12 engine putting out approximately 700HP. Production of the supercar is said to be limited to 77 units -hence the name- each priced at around £1,050,000 (about $1.65 million or €1.3 million) excluding VAT and all the other taxes that go into the purchase.

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