British automaker Aston Martin announced the name of its AM RB-003 hypercar project. The car, now called the Valhalla, gets its name from Norse mythology, continuing Aston’s trend of naming their high-performance vehicles with the letter V.
First showcased in Geneva in 2017, The Valhalla is the second and a more tame product from Aston Martin’s collaboration with Red Bull Racing, the first being the Valkyrie: a manic car in its own right. It is powered by a hybrid system that comprises of a turbocharged V6 in the mid-engine format and a battery pack. The combination is purported to generate some 1000 odd horses of power, though precise numbers are yet to be released.
Not much is known about construction characteristics, except that the Valhalla is built on a carbon fibre monocoque architecture and has some extremely radical aerodynamic and styling elements. The front of the car is faintly reminiscent of the stingray fish that effortlessly change body shape to glide along in deep waters. The teardrop cabin has been stripped out to the bare essentials and is quite driver-focused with upholstery and cushioning added as per necessity. The back of the teardrop cabin houses the aircraft style exhaust pipes, pointing up and away from the body of the car. The rear of sports a very open design: a hollow slab-like structure under the wing that extends the full width of the car. The diffuser is a departure from convention too, designed like a propeller fan blade from a large vessel at sea. The tail lamp cluster is made of two rows of 5 exposed diode elements on each side.
The Valhalla is limited to a production of 500 units in the coupe body style and is priced at approximately 875,000 pounds. It is scheduled to hit the roads in 2021.
