Aston Martin likes giving presents to itself to mark big occasions. This is the company’s 110th-anniversary gift, an all-new bespoke, front-engined GT that draws on the rugged, muscular and unreconstructed approach of the machines it hand-built in the 1970s and 1980s. Only 110 Aston Martin Valours will be made, preserving the magic of this retro-tinged return to Aston’s combustion-engined glories.
As well as the V8 Vantages of old, inspiration also came from the Vantage-based RHAM/1 ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer from 1980 and the 1990s V600 Vantage, both recently evoked by the one-off Aston Martin Victor project unveiled in 2021. The latter was practically sneaked out of the back doors of the factory, so unpopular was it with the incumbent management, but has latterly become something of a cult car.
Valour adds all this history into the blender, with Aston Martin’s 5.2 litre Twin Turbo V12 up front and – unusually – a six-speed manual transmission developed especially for the car. That’s a critical selling point in this electrified, homogenised and digitalised age, where paddle-operated gearboxes have almost completely replaced traditional shifters. As such, Valour is the only front-engined V12 sports car still available with a manual transmission, a visceral throwback that should work in its favour. Buyers will have a choice of machined aluminium, titanium, carbon fibre or walnut for the gearknob itself.
Bodywork is brutalist. The bluff front end is pure muscle car, with round headlights returning to an Aston Martin for the first time in decades, while the kicked-up rear spoiler, inset rear light bar and triple exhausts evoke the sparse purity of a race car, as well as the light arrangements on the Valkyrie. Despite the performance upgrades and driver focus, the Valour is a road car. Underneath all this brawn is Aston Martin’s V12 Vantage, soon to be given a major overhaul of its own.
‘At Aston Martin our design is always progressive, but when it comes to celebrating a significant milestone – in this instance our 110th birthday – we allow ourselves a little latitude,’ says Aston Martin’s director of design, Miles Nurnberger. ‘Consequently, Valour is gloriously unapologetic; an old-school brute refined and reimagined through the lens of 2023. Making a return to a chiselled shape, moving away from the more sculptural forms that define current series production Aston Martin’s, with bold details and modern materials root in the present.’
Bespoke options, provided by the company’s Q Division, are typically limitless, although the company’s design department will be happy to conjure up a custom livery based on a collection of stripes and graphic forms. There’s no word on price just yet, but suffice to say that if you’re in the market for such a vehicle, then you’ve probably already received a call from Aston Martin’s team.
Aston Martin Valour, price tbc, AstonMartin.com
