Valkyrie

Segment
Coupe

It's not every day an automaker develops a street-legal Formula 1 car. Aston Martin just happens to be in the midst of doing so right now. The Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar is, for now, still on schedule to officially launch sometime later this year and because of that, the automaker has begun testing on regular public highways instead of race tracks and other private courses.

The UK automaker has just released this new batch of photos showing a near production-ready Valkyrie undergoing testing on the highway with chief test driver Chris Goodwin behind the wheel. The chosen route is the roads around Silverstone in Northamptonshire, UK. Both Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies are now officially and very publically embarking on a series of real-world tests. In other words, the final stages of testing are happening right now.

Powered by a Cosworth-built naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 paired to a Rimac-sourced battery-electric system producing a combined total of 1,160 horsepower and 663 lb-ft of torque, the Valkyrie is clearly not a car for amateurs. With that much power and capability on hand, drivers must have the proper experience. 0-62 mph will take less than three seconds while top speed will be in excess of 200 mph.

Not surprisingly, only 150 examples are planned, thus making the Valkyrie ultra-exclusive and available to only those Aston Martin has deemed worthy. These customers are also quite wealthy because the Valkyrie has a rumored price tag of $3.25 million. And yes, every example has already been sold.

For those seeking an even more extreme Valkyrie, Aston Martin will also build a track-only Valkyrie AMR Pro version capable of even faster lap times than many F1 and LMP race cars. Only 25 units are planned and deliveries are also set to begin later this year.

Two specially-developed racing versions initially planned to compete in the World Endurance Championship Hypercar Class have, unfortunately, had development postponed. Why? A decision recently made by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest and the International Motor Sport Association to merge the Hypercar class with the LMDh prototype category in 2021 has caused Aston Martin to re-think the project.

Hopefully, a solution will be found but in the meantime, the road-going Aston Martin Valkyrie is still very much on schedule.