Aston Martin Valiant to make its dynamic debut at the Festival of Speed

The Valiant was a sort of snowball project allegedly, born out of Fernando Alonso’s wild ideas for a bespoke version of the Valour super GT, but with more of a track focus. You can see how that’s manifested immediately.

The Valour was quite a handsome but already brutish thing, harnessing the bluff musculature of the 1970s Vantage as its inspiration to celebrate 110 years of Aston Martin. The Valiant however, takes it to the next level, with that distinctive Aston grille expanded all the way out. Apart from the lights, splitter and canards, there really is very little else to the nose of the Valiant. The aggression continues all the way around the car, from the barge boards to the giant wing that sprouts out of the rear haunches. It goes without saying that like the Valour, the Valiant’s skin is all carbon-fibre.

Inspiration is said to come from the Aston Martin V8 RHAM, known affectionately as ‘The Muncher’. Sort of an Aston Martin proxy to the Ferrari 365 GTB Competizione, ‘The Muncher’ produced more than 520PS (382kW) from its twin-supercharged V8 and could top 200mph down the Mulsanne Straight.

Impressive though the those figures are, it’s safe to say the Valiant should best them. It utilises a 745PS (547kW) version of the familiar 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 – the Valour had 715PS (525kW) – feeding power to the rear wheels via a bespoke six-speed manual transmission.

The big changes in terms of track preparation of the Valiant compared to the Valour are in the chassis and in weight saving. In the suspension, the Valiant gets bespoke Multimatic adaptive spool valve (ASV) dampers calibrated specifically for track use. These can adapt to one of 32 damper curves in less than six milliseconds. These really are the best shocks in the business, so the Valiant should feel properly sorted.

There’s a new 3D-printed rear subframe that saves 3kg, while a magnesium torque tube drops weight by 8.6kg. The 21-inch magnesium wheels reduce unsprung mass by 14kg, while a Li-Ion battery drops weight by a further 11.5kg. Is the Valiant now a featherweight? Probably not. But there’s fat that’s been trimmed where it counts.

On the inside the Valiant has been stripped back compared to the Valour but still with that wonderful exposed gear shifter. The new car gets a bespoke driver-focused wheel with no switches and a thinner rim, with satin carbon and Alcantara lathering the rest of the cabin. Needless to say, the scope for material use and customisation is near-limitless.

So how many will there be? The Valiant will be a rarer beast than the Valour, with just 38 earmarked for production. The price will, as you’d expect for such a limited model, be really quite eye-watering. But this bespoke market is both one of the fastest-growing and most profitable there is at the moment.

If you’re gearing up to attend the 2024 Festival of Speed, do not miss the opportunity to see Fernando Alonso send the Aston Martin Valiant up the famous Goodwood Hill on Friday 12^th July.

Only Thursday general admission tickets remain, with Friday, Saturday, and Sunday tickets now sold out, although a limited number of hospitality packages for all days are still available. Tickets and packages can be purchased from £70.