Aston Martin’s Ferrari 488 Fighter Will Look A Lot Like The Valkyrie

Aston Martin's upcoming mid-engined supercar will share more design cues with the Valkyrie than the new Vantage.

There's a lot of mystery surrounding Aston Martin’s upcoming mid-engine Ferrari 488 rival, but company CEO Andy Palmer has shared some new tantalizing details. Speaking to Top Gear, Palmer said Aston Martin’s new mid-engine supercar won’t borrow design elements from current models like the new Vantage. Instead, it will look like the extreme Valkyrie hypercar, which is being co-developed with Red Bull. “It looks closer to Valkyrie,” he said.

"The fact I can say ‘it looks’ means I have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to look like – there’s a full-size model in the studio already. How could I describe it? You’ll instantly recognize it as an Aston." "In an Aston today, the A-pillar always intersects the front wheel, where in a mid-engined car everything moves forward.” So you’ve got some challenges to get those classical proportions,” he continued. “And we’re not there fully. But the styling direction owes more to Valkyrie than it does to Vantage.” Aston Martin’s mid-engine model is expected to launch in 2021. While the powertrain remains a mystery, Palmer said it will be “very competitive.”

He also said that while Aston Martin remains committed to the V12, it also has AMG’s twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 available to use when appropriate. As for the car’s construction, Palmer confirmed last year the car won’t use a full carbon fiber tub because “it is not the optimum solution.” He added that a car like this requires the team “to have an obsession with weight and aerodynamics.” Palmer is currently moving 130 engineers to the new Red Bull campus to allow them to develop the mid-engined supercar alongside the Valkyrie.

After the Porsche 919 Evo obliterated the all-time Nurburgring record, Top Gear asked Palmer if he wanted to challenge the German automaker and unleash the Valkyrie at the Green Hell. “Whether we’re as quick as an unrestricted LMP1 car, let’s see,” he said. “The car is mighty quick, for sure. We do all of our development – all of our ‘enthusiastic driver performance’ – at the Nürburgring, so it’s kind of a testing home for us.” Red Bull’s team principle Christian Horner, on the other hand, thinks the Valkyrie AMR Pro could beat the Porsche 919 Evo’s time. "I’m not sure a Formula 1 car could actually do it, but I think that the Valkyrie — certainly the track version of the Valkyrie — could be a contender," he said.

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