These Aston Martin Valkyrie Pictures Show How Wild the Hypercar Will Be
“There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion.”—Francis Bacon
When Aston Martin and Formula One team Red Bull Racing announced they were coming together to build a hypercar, everyone know from the outset that it would be capable of stonking performance, greater even than their eye-watering Vulcan track toy, and its somehow more ferocious AMR Pro sibling. Though the Vulcan has already been shown bare for some prospective clients, few views of the upcoming hypercar have been offered with the car's finer details on display, but Aston Martin has released fresh images of the car, with modifications made since the car was last displayed in a series of promotional shots.
The car shares many visual similarities with current Formula One cars, albeit rescaled to serve as a viable road car. From the rear three quarters in the first picture, we are offered a view of aero elements not dissimilar in appearance and function to barge boards, seen aft of and to the inside of the front wheels. The diffuser looks big enough to dry dock an aircraft carrier in, and the wing resembles the curved, low-drag wings used by multiple teams for Formula One's fastest circuits, like Monza and Baku. The air is even taken in from above and behind the cockpit, though not as tall relative to the driver as an open-wheeler's airbox.
The interior is bathed in carbon fiber, and features no discernible storage of any kind. The press blurb says that a reclined position, similar to those used in open wheel and endurance racing cars, is used, giving more space to occupants than its appearance suggests. A high-tech, rounded rectangular steering wheel greets the driver, complete with knobs, buttons, paddles, and an OLED screen. Not only does it resemble a Formula One car's steering wheel, it detaches like one, too, and not just so drivers can climb more easily in and out, but also to serve as theft prevention.
To understand the extremes to which this car goes to achieve its extreme performance, we need only look to the front of the car, at the badge. Said badge is a mere 70 microns thick, or less than three thousandths of an inch, and hardly any thicker than a sheet of A4 paper.
There is more to discover about the car in its official release, for both those who wish to ogle at the unobtainable and prospective Valkyrie customers, but most people want only to see the images of the vehicle. Enjoy.