Super sports cars are a dime a dozen. But some are just a pinch more special and therefore something very special – says auto journalist Henry Catchpole in his latest video. There he was allowed to drive the Aston Martin “Valkyrie” on the race track for the first time and was amazed.
That also confirms “Auto motor sports“, whose test driver in Bahrain accidentally claims to have set a course record. But as fast and noisy as the “Valkyrie” is – the car is street legal. And this is where the really exciting part begins – because the development is peppered with extremely exciting events .
There’s even a trunk – sort of
Because Catchpole also talks to chief developer James Manners about the car in his video. He learns, for example, that there is not a single part installed on the car whose function has not been optimized for racetrack suitability. This also includes the license plate holder, which at least the 235 street-legal vehicles need. According to Manners, this is not just an annoying open space, but firstly the storage space for the first-aid kit and secondly a component that efficiently directs the airflow.
Unfortunately, other parts on the must-have list had to shrink. The “Valkyrie” actually has a trunk under the bonnet, but unfortunately you can’t fit more than two pairs of underwear and a toothbrush in it. “Everything you need for a race weekend,” jokes Manners.
The engine, after all a hybrid but monstrous V12 unit with a system output of 1155 hp, fully complies with the Euro 6 standard, which according to the manufacturer was not really easy.
The wiper comes from the spaceship
Two other anecdotes about the car are really from another planet. According to Manners, the “Valkyrie” needed a windshield wiper to be street legal – of course. But the special shape of the disc and the enormous performance apparently made the development very difficult. Aston Martin researched and fine-tuned it for about a year until they found a windshield wiper based on a torsion bar, which is actually used on spaceships.
But that’s not all: For approval, Aston Martin had to prove that the component also works at full speed. To do this, the car had to go into a wind tunnel for express trains, since conventional wind tunnels were not able to produce the necessary headwind.
When examining the car, Catchpole noticed that a relatively large amount of titanium was used. “That’s right, we even got a call from the Ministry of Defense about it,” Manners recalls. The reason: Aston Martin had to buy so much titanium for the “Valkyrie” that the alarm bells rang for the authorities. The last time so much raw material went to one address, Lockheed used it to develop the SR-71 “Blackbird” military reconnaissance aircraft. According to Manners, Aston was able to calm officials’ fears quickly – but caused the price of titanium on the world market to skyrocket for a short time.
How the testers for roadworthiness were able to appease the enormous noise and actually got a general operating permit remains Aston Martin’s little secret.
Also read:
43.5 liters per 100 kilometers – the worst fuel gurgling in car history
Old School Cool: These “oldtimers” were among the fastest cars of the eighties
From race winners to mafia carriages: These classic cars cost up to 70 million dollars