It was in the spring of 2019, almost five years and one pandemic ago, that I travelled to Geneva to attend the annual Autosalon, of which I did the only video featured on this blog – so far. Maybe it’s me but I found it quite funny to watch again today. Five years is not a long time in car development, but as you’ll see for yourself, a few things have happened since.

Charging a battery to 80% in under five minutes as Piëch Design promised hasn’t happened, and the company seems to have wholly disappeared. Side mirrors replaced by cameras as was then featured on the Audi e-tron hasn’t become a success either, at least not yet, but the car we’ll talk about today has them, along with a lot of other fancy stuff.

The Aston Martin Valkyrie is thus now out on the streets for real, which arguably is more important than mass adoption of side cameras, given it’s pretty much the greatest supercar out there.

The Valkyrie is featured in the video from 2019 as well, but took longer than anticipated to reach the market, as was the case for so many at the onset of the pandemic. As I had the opportunity to chat with someone knowing far more about it than me recently, it became clear that it’s such a fascinating car that its story needs to be told!

Aston likes names beginning with “V”, and Valkyrie is taken from the Nordic mythology. When the first cars were finally delivered in 2021, it became clear just how much of the development had really happened with Red Bull and F1 technology. The Nordic Gods would certainly have been impressed!

The street car weighs around a ton, which is impressive but still around 250 kg more than the track version. What is not carbon is 3D-printed plastic, of which Aston is apparently very proud. An extreme illustration of weight-saving is the paint, which including all sub-layers weighs 3.5 kgs for the whole car, and is so thinly layered that you can see the carbon structure under it. Wrapping your Valkyrie is thus very highly recommended, since repairing scratched carbon is not a cheap past time.

The F1 heritage is visible in the design of the whole car. There’s a lot of wind tunnel testing that has helped shape it, not just in terms of aerodynamics. The shape also produces close to two tons of downforce and an elaborate way air-cooling the (mid-mounted) engine, just like an F1 car does. The front suspension also comes straight from F1.

The 6.5 litre V12 engine is a true monster, reinforced by an electric engine that in a Kers-like way produces an additional 150 hp for short boosts, to be added to the V12’s paltry 1015 hp. The total under acceleration is thus 1165 hp, which the downforce helps the rear wheels get onto the road. Even more incredibly, this huge V12 revs to 9.000 rpm!

When it does so, it’s loud as hell. The interior sound has been measured to 107 dB, which is louder than standing next to a chain saw. Since that’s an activity that isn’t recommended, the Valkyrie comes with two noise-blocking headsets, just like in a helicopter. These are connected to the seatbelts, and also allow the passenger and driver to chat.

Given however that driving a car with a headset is not allowed in most countries, Aston could only get an exception granted by making sure that the sound of emergency vehicles in every country the Valkyrie can be sold in, can be heard through the headset. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Almost as cool is the windscreen, which is more curved than on any other car. Curving glass to that degree is not easy, so Aston turned to NASA, who have developed the front screen along the same lines as for space rockets. You don’t want to know what replacing one would cost, but you could buy a few Chinese EV’s for the same money.

Other technology highlights include the side mirrors mentioned above, the headlights that like a submarine periscope can see around corners, and of course the titanium wheels that cannot be repaired should you scratch them, and of which the new price for all four is apparently EUR 120.000. And I almost forgot, the fire extinguisher button is located in the center of the inner roof. Given it’s red, a number of clients have apparently mistaken it for the starter button…

Speaking of the inside, it’s follows a very minimalist design. There’s not a single button or switch outside of the steering wheel, and the center screen is of a modest size. That said, the street car still has modern comfort features such as AC. The cabin is for two, but it’s an advantage if they like each other, since saying the cabin is cramped is an understatement.

Like in a true race car, you sit with your feet higher up than your bottom – in other words, a lying position. To get in, you need to remove the steering wheel and place your feet on the seat, meaning you should preferably take off your shoes. But once you’re in, you probably won’t be able to put them on again. Go figure…

As new, the Valkyrie costs around GBP 3m, and of course you have to apply to get one. The delivery time is around two years, and just to get on the list of potential buyers takes you a down payment of GBP 500.000. Should you then be approved, you will have to do a second down payment of GBP 750.000 within seven days.

This is of course Aston trying to make sure that whoever buys the car isn’t some car of trader or dealer. As is common practicen in the supercar world these days, the lucky owners are also subject to a minimum owning period of 18 months. That said, the street value of a Valkyrie is today around EUR 4m, and it will certainly not be less in 18 months from now!

The Valkyrie is an incredible car and no doubt the closest you can get to a street-legal F1 car. Unless you have regular access to a race track, it’s unclear what you would use it for, and it’s unfortunately safe to assume that most Valkyries will spend their time in a garage before switching owners for much more than the original price a couple of years from now. But for the lucky ones who will actually drive it, what an experience!