Aston Martin has revealed a special-edition sports car with a V12 engine and a manual transmission to celebrate its 110th anniversary.
Dubbed the Valour, it has been designed for “purists who crave undiluted and visceral driving experiences”.
Only 110 examples of the Aston Martin Valour will be produced, with production set to commence at the company’s Gaydon headquarters in the third quarter of 2023.
The Valour is claimed to have a “mouth-watering end-of-an-era” powertrain setup mating a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 engine producing 526kW of power and 753Nm of torque with a bespoke six-speed manual transmission.
The British carmaker claims the Valour is the only front-engined V12 sports car that’s available with a manual transmission.
There’s a mechanical limited-slip differential, as well as three drive modes – Sport, Sport+, and Track – that tune the throttle response, torque management and sound character.
The Aston Martin Valour has a bespoke suspension setup, with adaptive dampers, springs and anti-roll bars all honed specifically to the car. There are dedicated camber, castor and toe settings for the wheels too.
Providing stopping power are a set of standard carbon ceramic brakes with six-piston front and four-piston rear calipers.
These brakes are covered by 21-inch lightweight forged alloy ‘Honeycomb’ wheels wrapped in the latest Aston Martin Lagonda-specific Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 tyres.
The Aston Martin Valour’s bodywork is made entirely from carbon fibre and has been designed with cues from the 1970s V8 Vantage. It looks quite similar to the Victor one-off as well.
Highlight exterior features a clamshell bonnet with a horse shoe vent and twin NACA ducts, carbon fibre air intakes, round LED headlights, prominent front splitter, front fender vents, LED tail lights, and a triple pipe stainless steel exhaust system.
On the inside the Valour has a two-seater cockpit with the manual transmission gear lever being the centrepiece. It can be finished with a choice of machined aluminium, titanium, carbon fibre, or walnut, and has an exposed shift mechanism.
Carbon fibre has been used on the lightweight performance seats, bespoke door cards, upper centre console and transmission tunnel.
Prospective Aston Martin Valour owners can further personalise their car with livery customisation. The front, bonnet, sides and rear can be finished in an array of hand-painted stripes and graphic designs.
There are also a range of bespoke options that can be added to the Valour thanks to the Q by Aston Martin division. Highlights include exposed carbon fibre bodywork, painted wheels, carbon fibre interior detailing, and more.
It’s unclear if the Aston Martin Valour will be one of the company’s last V12-powered sports cars with a manual transmission.
As recently reported, the company plans to launch its first electric vehicle (EV) with the help of Lucid by 2025.
Aston Martin is also aiming to have its “core range” fully electrified by 2030.
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