Aston Martin Valiant Spins the Valour Around, Turns It Into an Extreme Road Legal Race Car

Q by Aston Martin is how the carmaker calls its side of the business that specializes in delivering special editions of existing models, but also in responding to whatever request a customer has regarding their future rides.

Perhaps the most famous Q is the Valour, a model that was released last year in celebration of Aston Martin's 110th anniversary. It packed a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 underneath the incredibly good-looking body, ran a six-speed manual transmission, and was only intended to be made in 110 units.

Q is also responsible for a series of customer-requested builds, and on the list of such projects is a "personal commission from Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team driver, Fernando Alonso."

I mentioned both the Valour and Alonso's build request because these two projects somehow joined together and morphed to become the Valiant, the latest and one of the most spectacular vehicles the Brits put together in recent years.

The car has been designed to be road-legal, but at the same time, it is described as a track-focused driver's car. That's because it uses the same powertrain as the Valour it is based on, including the manual transmission, but with slight modifications in power levels.

Whereas in the Valour the 5-2-liter V12 cranks out 705 hp and 753 Nm of torque, the Valiant can brag with 735 horsepower (torque levels stay the same). Coupled with the many aerodynamic and weight-saving changes made to the car, the increase in power should make the vehicle the one to watch out for in a race.

I'll start with the changes made in a bid to cut weight. According to Aston Martin, a total of 82 pounds (37 kg) were shaved off the Valiant by providing it with a 3D-printed rear subframe, a magnesium torque tube, a motorsport-spec lithium-ion battery, and, naturally, 21-inch magnesium wheels made in the stuff.

Further savings were achieved by using lightweight materials wherever possible. The bodywork, visibly different than the one on the Valour, makes extensive use of carbon fiber. Among other things, we've got a new front splitter, a new full-width grille, and even aero discs on the wheels.

These discs, meant to reduce the turbulence and drag created when the wheels are spinning, have been designed in such a way as to remind whoever is capable of remembering of the covers used back in 1980 on the RHAM/1 Muncher Le Mans racer.

Elsewhere on the body, the Valiant boasts heavily scalloped side fenders, side sills, and upswept vortex generators, all of them installed on the car in a bid to reduce turbulence, drag, and lift. At the rear, the Valiant displays an upswept deck lid that ends in a massive fixed wing that's there to make sure enough downforce is available.

Aston Martin went out of its way to ensure proper stopping power for the Valiant. Not only did it fit the car with carbon ceramic brakes, but it devised six inlets to allow more air to flow over them and cool them down, as well as apertures around the circumference of the wheel to allow heat to escape. And that's only natural, seeing how a day at the track is not only about speed, but about stopping power as well.

The car also comes with a suspension system that is not available on the open market, and only the most important and rare Aston Martins end up getting. The company calls the hardware Multimatic Adaptive Spool Valve (ASV) dampers, and what they do is simultaneously adjust each damper to one of thirty-two damper curves, something that is done in less than six milliseconds.

The interior of the Valiant only has room for two people, who are seated in Recaro Podium seats surrounded by a half-cage that comes with anchor points for four-point race harnesses. Here, too, there are some things you'll only see on the Valiant.

The first is the steering wheel, specifically designed for this car. It's a perfectly round piece of equipment that has absolutely no switches, "for intuitive feel and zero distractions."

The second thing would be the cutaway in the transmission tunnel. That thing is there on purpose to allow a perfect view of the gear linkage running rearward, reminding everyone this is a manually-controlled race car for the road.

Aston Martin says it will only make 38 Valiants for the global market, but don't get your hopes up: they've all been spoken for already, for prices that have not been disclosed.

The world's roads and tracks will get to meet the production Valiants starting the fourth quarter of this year, but we will be able to enjoy the car in action sooner than that: Aston will be taking one of them to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, with the goal of giving us "dynamic demonstrations on the famous Hill Climb course."

The first and only known customer for the Valiant, Fernando Alonso, will be behind the wheel during one of those demonstrations.