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Aston Martin’s Valkyrie breaks record for road-legal cars.

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Aston Martin’s Valkyrie breaks record for road-legal cars.

A supercar in a league of its own – this is what Aston Martin is building in the Valkyrie that will hit the road in the later half of next year. With a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine producing well over 1,000bhp, it will be the most powerful road car ever built that does not need the aid of turbos or superchargers. The 789bhp Ferrari 812 Superfast currently owns this title.

Designed in collaboration with the Red Bull F1 team, the US$3.2 million (S$4.4 million) car created a stir when news emerged of it being flipped for a profi t. This is because only 150 will be made.

According to Miles Nurnberger, Aston Martin’s director of design, the tie-up with Red Bull F1 occurred after the British carmaker’s chief executive, Andy Palmer, discovered that Adrian Newey, the racing outfit’s legendary chief technical officer, was in the midst of designing the most powerful and fastest road car.

It was similar to what he had his own Aston Martin engineers work on, as part of a seven-year plan for the company. “That’s when we decided to collaborate on this project,” says Nurnberger.

The result is a stunning design where the cabin appears to be suspended above the wheels and the driver’s legs will be positioned above his hips. On its speed, Nurnberger says: “On a 100-second lap time, it will be 20 seconds faster than any other hyper car today. It will sound like the great Formula 1 engines of our time.”

TEXT IAN DE COTTA