The Aston Martin Valiant Is the Valour Fernando Alonso Would Drive

Last year, Aston Martin built the Valour, a super-limited-edition, custom-bodied sports car with a tuned DBS V12 and a six-speed manual. Aston only built 110 of the gorgeous sports cars. Gordon Ramsay famously has one. However, the Brits have now crafted an even more special model, with an even more limited production run—the Aston Martin Valiant. And the Valiant packs a bit more star power than a loudmouthed chef, as it was commissioned by Aston Martin Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso.

Alonso wanted a lighter, more powerful, more extreme version of the Valour, so he turned to Aston Martin’s Q division, where its most special, bespoke sports cars are built.

“Valour was a spectacular celebration of Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary, and stirred me to create a more extreme, race car inspired version that was track focussed, while also delivering a thrilling drive on-road,” Alonso was quoted in a company press release. “Valiant is born from my passion for driving at the limit and I have enjoyed working closely with the Q by Aston Martin team on both the design and technical specification and believe we have created a masterpiece.”

Since the Valiant is based on the Valour, it looks pretty similar. Except, the two-time world champ’s creation has carbon fiber vents, strakes, and louvers everywhere. They’re in the grille, in the front air intakes, above the rear diffuser, on the rear glass, and even in the rear wing. It might not be quite as elegant as the Valour, but it’s lighter and sportier, with better aerodynamics.

The Valour already had a carbon fiber body, so Aston Martin had to get creative to lower the Valiant’s weight even further. A 3D-printed rear subframe drops three kilograms; a magnesium torque tube sheds another 8.6 kilograms; 21-inch magnesium wheels remove 14 kilograms; and a motorsport-spec lithium-ion battery makes it another 11.5 kilograms lighter. That’s about 75 pounds in total. Those wheels also come with trick aero-disc wheel covers, inspired by the 1980 RHAM/1 ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer, to improve aerodynamics and reduce drag.

To compliment that lighter weight and give Alonso the level of control and handling he wanted, Aston bestowed the Valiant new Multimatic Adaptive Spool Valve (ASV) dampers. They can adjust between 32 different damper curves in under six milliseconds.

Under the hood is a similar 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12, but it’s been upgraded to 743 horsepower, up from the Valour’s 705 hp. Torque is the same, at 555 lb-ft. Also the same is its six-speed manual, with its gorgeous exposed linkage.

Inside the Valiant is a half-roll cage, specially trimmed Recaro podium seats, and four-point racing harnesses. Customers can choose either Alcantara or leather trim, to compliment the acres of carbon fiber trim. Otherwise, it’s almost exactly the same as the Valour inside.

Only 38 Aston Martin Valiants will be built and deliveries will start in Q4 of 2024. However, most people will see the Valiant in public for the first time at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on July 11.

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