A Bond-like Aston on Steroids
Now that Daniel Craig’s last iteration of James Bond in “No Time to Die” is finally in theaters, it might be time to look at another special Aston Martin. We featured the DB-10 from “Spectre” in a post a while back (“2015 Aston Martin DB10 – The Spectre Car”). While that is a very beautiful and evocative car, this one goes well beyond the DB-10.
One would think it’s not a big leap moving from Hollywood to the audacious, but in this case one would be wrong. Meet the Vulcan, one of Aston’s latest track only cars. It’s name is intended to bring to mind the British delta-winged fighter jet of the same name. And it is, indeed, a bit of a jet in its own right. The 820 HP, naturally aspirated 7-liter V12 hypercar was on display at the Aston Martin Club 1913 during 2017’s Monterey Car Week. $2.5 million could get you in the door, but only 24 of these cars were built and all were sold before production began.
Development testing was accomplished by none other than Aston Martin Racing driver Darren Turner, a 3-time winner at LeMans. The car’s performance is so wicked Aston requires each owner to take a driver’s training course in how to handle it. It has three power settings, 550 HP, 675 HP and 820 HP, each one scarier and more thrilling than the last. It does 0-60 MPH in 2.9 sec and even with all that down force still does 208. There has been one owner who converted his Vulcan to road legal status – it only cost an additional $410,000. The car begins with a carbon fiber body over a highly modified aluminum and carbon fiber chassis from the Aston Martin One-77. It has all the usual high performance tricks, like the XTrac sequential 6-speed transmission and carbon ceramic brakes, the seven-stage ABS and six-stage traction controls, the FIA roll cage and fuel cell and, of course, no frills.
Starting it is a process: you must first turn the sequential start switch to “1” and push the red start button on the steering wheel to prime the fuel system and circulate the oil from the dry sump. Next, the start switch is clicked over to “2” and the wheel button pushed again to bring the car to life. And with a raw, ferocious, mechanical snarl, it lets you know it’s time to get down to business.
The car follows Aston’s new driving experience mantra of a more raw, visceral, analog explosion of adrenalin than its current peers. The down force aerodynamics allow it to tour the Nardo handling circuit in Italy a full 9 seconds faster than the amazing McLaren P1 – now that is impressive. And there is an AMR performance package that will further increase its capabilities.
Styling-wise, it is just another beautiful Aston taken to the next level of performance. That they can still insert some grace and flow to the lines of a car like this is remarkable – and I love the fun popsicle- stick LED taillights.
Of course, the auto industry never stands still these days. Aston has since eclipsed the Vulcan with the Valkyrie and the Valhalla. The Valhalla is a street legal hybrid supercar that lists for less than a million dollars. It is said they will build up to 999 of them. With a combined hybrid 937 HP, it is expected to top 217 mph and reach 60 mph in 2.4 seconds.
The Valkyrie is also a street legal animal of which only 150 will be made, beginning at about $3 million each. It breaks the fabled one horsepower per kilogram barrier, generating 1,160 hp with 664 ft-lb. of torque while weighing only 1,030 kg. The 6.5 liter Cosworth-developed V12 develops 1,000 hp and red-lines at 11,100 rpm. The remaining power comes from a single electric motor in a KERS-type battery system. Top speed will be a mind-blowing 250 mph. A Spyder version, limited to 85 cars, was recently announced that will begin at $3.8 million. Twenty-five AMR all-track versions are also being offered. All of these cars were designed with the assistance of Formula 1 engineering savant Adrian Newey, so performance expectations are extremely high. They’re all in another stratosphere from where I sit, but wow, what they can build these days is phenomenal.
