One-of-38 Aston Martin Valiant for sale
It's not Gordon Ramsay's, but it could be yours - for £2.6m
Exciting times ahead for Aston Martin. Chances are your social media feeds are awash with rumours about the forthcoming Formula 1 season, its many technical changes and how the British marque, now with Adrian Newey at the helm of both the car’s design and team, could prove to be a bit of a headache for favourites Mercedes. Meanwhile, the 1,100hp, V8 hybrid Valhalla will be arriving on more private driveways after what feels like an eternity, and you wouldn’t bet against the firm releasing a special or two based on its current (and really quite strong) lineup.
After all, Aston Martin is a master at extracting as much life from one of its products as possible. The company has been offering bespoke bodies for its cars for pretty much its entire existence, though the one everyone remembers is the stunning Zagato-bodied DB4 GT. It collaborated with the Italian design house on a number of specials in the following decades, including those based the DB7 and V12 Vantage, but it also dabbled in its own ultra-limited and bespoke models for its wealthiest customers. There’s likely a handful we’ve never seen, stowed away in vast collections only to appear years later and sell for many millions at auction, but the ones we did get to see include the V12 Speedster, One-77 and the Valiant featured here.
Aston Martin really knows how to pick a name. Valhalla, Valkyrie, Vanquish and so on, they all conjure up images of Norse gods wielding battle axes and summoning armies of the undead. The Valiant, meanwhile, is synonymous with its V bomber namesake. Both deliver apocalyptic power, the bomber in the form of the most destructive weapons known to man and the Aston a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 with 745hp and 555lb ft of torque, all of which will come in quite handy if you ever had to outrun the Vickers’ payload.
Interestingly, the Valiant is heavily inspired by another Aston that shares its name with a different V bomber. The Victor, which was actually named in honour of former company chairman Victor Gauntlett, arrived in 2021 as a one-off special built on the underpinnings of the One-77 and heavily inspired by the brutish Vantages of the '70s and '80s. Everyone loved it, which isn’t always a sure thing with homages, and it wasn’t long before Aston Martin customers started demanding a Victor of their own. That came a couple of years later with the Valour, which was almost identical to the Victor in design, only now riding on the same platform as the DBS and using its twin-turbo V12.
A year after the Valour’s reveal, Aston Martin introduced the Valiant as a road-legal track special, limiting it to just 38 units (compared to the Valour’s 110). Apparently, the project started as a one-off for Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso, who wanted a track version of his own, before production was (sort of) opened up to the public. Changes included a 30hp increase over the Valour, additional carbon fibre flicks at the front and a towering wing at the back, as well as a more intricate diffuser. Crucially, the Valiant retains the Valour’s six-speed manual gearbox which, given it was originally designed for Alonso, shows you just how cool the double F1 world champ is.
It really is a spectacular looking thing, particularly in crimson red metallic over a chancellor red interior. Even the carbon fibre is tinted red, as are the dinner-plate wheel covers and grille vents. Amazingly, despite being just a year old, this Valiant has covered a whopping 500 miles, which means it’s well on its way to being run in. The perfect time to take ownership of it, then. All you’ll need is £2,595,000, or a good half a million more than it was worth new. That doesn’t account for personalisation, mind, and there’s clearly been a fair bit involved in the speccing of this car. And if you’re looking for somewhere to drive it, we will have some track day dates to announce very soon…
I have a hatred for modern automotive styling that aims to make everything as aggressive and mean as possible. While it can work it often doesn't work. The Valiant in particular, has a pretty good basic shape but the styling just looks tacky. It could have looked incredible if they went for a softer, more elegant look...
Bit like the ring brothers version which also left me non plussed.
I sneaked in to a VIP area at the FoS a few years ago where the Victor was. That on the other hand looked great - very menacing but far more subtle.
Also had a long chat with Henry Catchpole while I was there - which was nice.
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