Five years ago, Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing introduced their concept for a new F1-inspired hypercar. Formerly called the AM-RB 001, the Valkyrie has finally seen the light of day as the company has completed the production on the first customer car. After various rumors that development was plagued with unreliability when driven, it seems that Aston Martin have ironed out the kinks in their design. Deliveries are expected to pick up as the weeks progress.
Full production on more of these hypercars has been confirmed by Aston Martin, with each being handled by a dedicated team through every part of construction. From the actual build and all the way to delivery, it happens at Aston Martin’s HQ in Gaydon where a special area has been designated for the Valkyrie. A whole 2000 hours of work is needed to construct a single Valkyrie, after which it’s sent to Silverstone Raceway for various high-speed and performance testing.
The Valkyrie sports a 6.5-liter Cosworth V12 engine, capable of up to 11,100 rpms and with peak power topping off at 10,500 rpms. It produces 1140 horsepower with some help form the hybrid electric motor, along with torque levels of 664 pounds-feet. A Rimac KERS hybrid-electric system adds 160 horsepower to the car’s performance, along with an additional 207 pound-feet of torque. The whole engine system itself weighs an impressive 450 pounds.
It’s also been stated that the engine of the Aston Martin is meant to last for 60,000 miles before some maintenance work is needed on the engine. Aston Martin plans on building a total of 150 examples of Valkyries, with more variants coming down the line soon. Planned variants are the Valkyrie AMR Pro, which is slated to take on the 8.5 mile Le Mans track. Another is the Valkyrie Spider, which is an open-top model with emphasis on aerodynamics and weight reduction.