The great thing about concept cars is that it gives carmakers the opportunity to take risks. In today’s car world of nearly identical midsize crossovers that keep selling, it can be hard to pitch something new and exciting. The concept car allows the innovators to go bigger, bolder, and more exciting. This is where the Aston Martin Valhalla comes in.
The Valhalla’s origins are found in the concept car creatively named AM-RB 003 that was originally revealed at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show. The original AM-RB 003 is so beautifully sleek that you can tell just by looking that the car’s downforce and drag reduction are out of this world. On the negative side, this aggressive design choice admittedly made the car look kind of like a duck trying very intently to talk when viewed at the right angle. The AM-RB 003 was designed with an incredibly light bodyweight—to the extreme that an infotainment screen was not included in lieu of a place to mount your phone for weight reduction. Its mid-engined 6.5L V-12 engine in combination with all of the decisions about the shape and weight of the car made sure that in addition to being blisteringly fast, it stuck to the pavement to give the lucky driver incredible handling.
The Serial Number Evolves into the Show-Stopping Valhalla
After the warm reception of the AM-RB 003, Aston Martin decided that they wanted to take this concept car and turn it into something that people could actually drive off of the lot in. Though limited to just 999 roadworthy examples, the newly re-named Valhalla will be taking everything that was great from the AM-RB 003, and refining and perfecting it for 999 lucky people who can afford to spend $800,000+ on Aston Martin’s Valhalla hypercar.
Though the release date for the Valhalla has been pushed back from 2023 to 2024—you can’t rush perfection after all—let’s take a look at what we know so far.
When Aston Martin Makes a Hypercar, They Don’t Skimp
Our friends over at MotorTrend had a chat with the Valhalla’s product development director Carlo Della Casa, who had some very interesting things to say about the car’s current state of development. First thing’s first: though the previous update put the Valhalla’s max hp at 937, this most recent news puts the car’s max hp to an astounding 1,012 hp. This incredible number comes from the combination of a 4L twin turbo V-8 traditional gas engine and a 400 volt hybrid system which can work in tandem with one another.
When it comes to weight, the Valhalla is currently sitting at well below 2 tons, with a curb weight of 3,640 lbs. When it comes to downforce, all of the curves produce something like 1,433 lbs of downforce at 150mph, which is up from 1,322 at the previous update. And when it comes to general styling in comparison to the AM-RB 003, it looks much less like a duck and more like the gorgeous hypercar it was always meant to be.
It May Get Even Better: Where Will the Valhalla Be in 2024?
It will be interesting to see where the Valhalla finally ends up before its release day. As Della Cassa mentioned, Aston has been and will continue to work hard to adjust and refine the drag reduction system all throughout the car’s production process, so it will be amazing to see how much farther Aston will be able to push the envelope before the car is finally released.
