Aston Martin has made its most extreme car into a convertible.
The Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider shares its Cosworth V12 engine with the coupe, but promises to make it even easier for owners to enjoy its howl.
Just 85 will be built, with deliveries set to begin in the second half of 2022.
Compared to the coupe, the Spider has a revised carbon fibre body structure to make sure it doesn’t get all wobbly when you’re driving in a hurry.
The adaptive aerodynamics and chassis systems have also been adjusted to work in the absence of a roof.
It’s not light on for downforce. There’s more than 1400kg at 240km/h in its most aggressive mod, even with the roof down – although you won’t be able to hit the car’s 350km/h top speed with the top dropped.
The fastest you can go while driving alfresco is 330km/h, which is more than fast enough to ruffle your toupee.
Speaking of the roof, it’s a carbon and polycarbonate unit that can be removed when the car is stopped and the doors are open. The doors are now front-hinged, given the roof is removable and gullwings wouldn’t have worked.
Power in the Valkyrie comes from a 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 engine developed by Cosworth, mated with a hybrid boost system.
Combined peak power is 865kW, and the engine is redlined at a stratospheric 11,100rpm.
The Valkyrie is rear-wheel drive and has a seven-speed paddle shift transmission.
Although it’s technically a road car, Aston Martin says it should offer similar performance to a Le Mans Prototype racer on track thanks to the fiendishly clever underbody aerodynamics setup developed in tandem with Red Bull Racing.
Inside, the Valkyrie Spider has a very similar cabin to the coupe, with a race-style feet-up driving position and pared-back design.
Of course, there’s also much more headroom in the Spider.
