The 1,000hp Aston Martin Valkyrie Spider is 'closest thing to F1 car'

Aston Martin took the top off the Valkyrie and unveiled it at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. As a hypercar with a removable carbon fiber roof, the British car marque said that the Valkyrie Spider is the closest thing one can get to a Formula 1 car. 

Also putting the Valkyrie Spider at one degree of separation away from the single-seater is its development. Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey had contributed engineering solutions of Red Bull Advanced Technologies (RBAT). 

While the Valkyrie’s 1,155hp hybrid 6.5-liter V12 powertrain remains unchanged, the Spider has received revisions to its carbon fiber structure and tweaking of its active aerodynamic and active chassis systems. All of these procedures aim to maintain maximum rigidity and performance. 

The upper body surfaces of the teardrop-shaped cockpit and lower tub contours follow the envelope of space available between the huge full-length Venturi tunnels that run either side of the cockpit floor. With huge quantities of air going to the rear diffuser, these tunnels result to downforce of 1,400 kilograms at 240kph in track mode. 

With just "a marginal weight difference" to the coupe, the Valkyrie Spider is capable of achieving a top speed of 330kph with the roof removed, and 350kph with the roof in place. These numbers make the Spider the fastest open-top and road-legal car from Aston Martin ever built. 

Another F1-inspired aspect of the Valkyrie Spider is its driving position, with a low hip-to-heel height and near-central seat, along with a six-point safety harness to keep the two occupants safely in the car. A center rear-view camera system, along with front and rear parking sensors, will aid the driver at both high and low speeds.

The Valkyrie Spider's removable lightweight roof is a carbon fiber central panel. It latches onto the tub at the rear and to the windscreen surround at the front, along with a pair of polycarbonate roof windows, hinged on either side. On opening the doors, the roof can simply be lifted off and stowed away.

Modifications to the carbon fiber tub have been made to support the removable roof panels and the luxury open-top layout, as well as new doors. The now front-hinged dihedral doors, which are unique to Valkyrie Spider, have been redesigned to tilt forward.

Aston Martin said that 85 examples of the Valkyrie Spider, in left- and right-hand drive, are spoken for. The cars will be delivered in H2 2022.

“Right from the very beginning of the Valkyrie project, we were driven by exacting targets that went way beyond any previous road car, and the Valkyrie Spider brings that same ethos to the open cockpit hypercar category," Adrian Newey expressed. 

"Maintaining aerodynamic performance with the roof removed was of paramount importance, likewise keeping any unavoidable weight gains to an absolute minimum while maximizing enjoyment for the driver,” Newey added. 

Photos from Aston Martin

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