07 Db9, One Of A Kind, Pristine, 06,08,09 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Aston Martin Valkyrie heads to public roads for the first time

The Aston Martin Valkyrie may not be headed for the WEC racing series anymore, but it is finally hitting public roads. Aston Martin shared some images of the start of public road testing and tuning with a production prototype. The car is undisguised because, well, we've seen it a number of times before, but it's still interesting to see it in such mundane settings. Public roads really emphasize how alien the Valkyrie looks. In particular, the shot of it in front of other production cars show that it's about half their height. It also doesn't look especially longer or wider than some of the somewhat small cars in the background such as that Hyundai Kona. And of course the Valkyrie's deep diffuser openings, undulating fenders and little cockpit all look outrageous on the street. We mean that in the best way possible. Aston still plans to begin delivering Valkyries to customers in the second half of this year. It will make at least 1,000 horsepower and rev to over 11,000 rpm. It will be street legal, though not when equipped with the track package or if it's the 1,100-horsepower AMR Pro variant.

1980 Aston Martin Bulldog concept will reattempt to break the 200-mph barrier

Aston Martin's 1980 Bulldog concept will receive a second chance to break the 200-mph barrier after it emerges from a complete, 18-month restoration. It was developed with all-out speed in mind — the British company had hoped the coupe would become the fastest car in the world, but it missed its target before getting shelved. Had things gone as planned, car-crazed kids in the 1980s would have grown up with a picture of the Bulldog on their bedroom wall. Aston Martin wanted to hoist itself up the exotic car pecking order by building the fastest car in the world, though it didn't envision more than a limited production run of 15 to 25 cars. Penned by William Towns, who also drew the Lagonda, the Bulldog looked like nothing else on the road (let alone in the Aston Range) due in part to its five center-mounted lights, and it broke with tradition by adopting a mid-mounted engine. Engineers floated a top speed of 237 mph, according to The Drive, but the Bulldog ran out of breath at 191 mph. Victor Gauntlett axed the project shortly after taking the top job at Aston Martin in 1981 because the numbers didn't add up; the firm wasn't in a position to chase speed records. Now, 40 years later, it's almost time to try again. Classic Motor Cars began the lengthy process of restoring the Bulldog on behalf of a private owner in 2020, and it enlisted the help of Aston Martin factory driver Darren Turner to see if it can break the 200-mph barrier once it's back in one piece. Richard Gauntlett, the son of the company's former boss, is overseeing the project. We don't know precisely when or where the speed run will take place, but Classic Motor Cars aims to have the Bulldog running by the end of 2021. In a statement, it said that the car is "well on the way to being restored." Restoring any exotic car from the early 1980s is a meticulous, expensive, and time-consuming process, and bringing a one-off concept car back to life increases the number of challenges exponentially. Classic Motor Cars can't order parts from Aston Martin, for example, and it's not able to study another example to find out how a specific panel is welded. It helps that the Bulldog hasn't been significantly modified over the past four decades, though some parts (like the door mirrors) were added later, and that it was complete when it arrived at the shop. Power for the Bulldog comes from a 5.3-liter V8 that's twin-turbocharged to 600 horsepower, figures that are still respectable in 2021.

Aston Martin AMR-C01 is an Aston you can drive in your living room

Aston Martin has made a lot of amazing cars over the decades. But none of them have been able to be driven inside a house. That sort of changes now, as Aston Martin has collaborated with driving simulator company Curv to create the AMR-C01 simulator rig. The simulator is made completely out of carbon fiber, and according to Aston Martin, the leather-clad seat is designed to reflect the Valkyrie supercar's driving position. The shape of the outer shell also resembles an Aston Martin at the front. It's available in a variety of color schemes, some having been used on Aston Martin race cars and prototypes. In addition to the seat, pedals and steering wheel, the rig features a massive curved screen, and presumably there's a computer hidden somewhere in the bodywork. The company didn't give specifications, but apparently it has "Assetto Corsa" loaded as their simulator of choice. Unsurprisingly, the Aston Martin simulator is not cheap. It costs 57,500 pounds before tax, and that comes to $73,592 at current exchange rates. We suppose for a new Aston Martin, that's not a bad price, though. It's a limited production Aston, too, with just 150 units being built. Those who order one will get it by the end of the year. Related Video: