The $3.0 million for an Aston Martin Victor

 

$3.0 million for an Aston Martin Victor

Aston Martin knows a thing or two about premium automobiles, and the Victor could be the British brand's most exclusive project to date. The Victor uses pieces from many donor Astons, including the track project Vulcan and the future Valkyrie, and is based on the One-77 chassis. When it comes to limited manufacturing, the Victor is a one-of-a-kind model that is rumored to cost about $3 million.

Although the Bolide is the most outrageous-looking Bugatti on the list, it isn't the most expensive. The Bugatti Bolide is priced at $3.0 million and has the company's renowned 8.0-liter W16 engine, which produces 1,479 horsepower (1,102 kilowatts). However, this is a track-only special with a very limited run.

I'm a traveler. The Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2s have given it their all, but there's only so much water they can move, and that's not enough right now. Time slows down, as I sit and think about my aquaplaning position, thankful that I'm on a broad track with nothing to hit.

My main concern is that this will be the extent of my driving for the day. Before the rain became biblical, I had three slow sighting circuits around Aston Martin's Silverstone Stowe circuit to get some heat into the car's engine and brakes and learn where the course goes.

I'm not sure I'd be happy letting anyone drive this car in these conditions, yet the people at Aston Martin seem unfazed. When you get to the first corner, those Michelins give up since the track is no longer there.

Instead, it's completely submerged, and due to the vagaries of the weather, sunlight shining on the black cloud that just deposited all that water transforms the circuit into a massive mirror. It's fine in a series-production Aston Martin, but the car I'm driving is one-of-a-kind.

A one-of-a-kind toy for a very lucky owner, destined to be hidden in a collection and never seen again? That is not the case. The car's owner has one of the keys back in Belgium, but the automobile is still in the UK, and the spare key is currently stored in the dash's center slot.

To get the name, you'll need to know your Aston Martin background. Victor Gauntlett, Aston Martin's Executive Chairman, presided over the firm during the 1970s and 1980s, when the renowned V8 Vantage was its flagship model.

Automobile Reviews Kyle Fortune is a well-known figure in the Aston Martin is a British sports car manufacturer. 07646 Victor Photo Max Earey

The Victor's design is an unabashedly nostalgic tribute to those automobiles, though instead of a V8 beneath the hood, the Victor has a V12. A 7.3-litre naturally aspirated V12 engine, which also supplies its carbonfibre chassis, was previously used to power a One-77 prototype car.

“We're constantly searching for unique things to do,” says Simon Lane, Director of Q and Special Project Sales at Aston Martin Lagonda. “We had a low-use One-77 prototype in storage that we couldn't sell and we thought it would be good to do something with it.” The decision was made to create something that honored both the V8 Vantage and the 1970s DBS V8 that was developed to compete in the Le Mans 24 hour as the RHAM/1.

“We don't generally do retrospective design at Aston Martin,” says Miles Nurnberger, Director of Design, “but it's excellent to stretch designers' minds and this was a fascinating project.” That Le Mans car, constructed by Robin Hamilton with factory help from Aston Martin in the 1970s, was dubbed "The Muncher" because of its voracious hunger for brakes, though Nurnberger joked that it also extended to transmissions, tyres, and everything else.

Before Aston Martin began addressing its most loyal customers to inquire if they would be interested in such a car, the idea, as well as some early CAD design work and engineering feasibility studies, were done. One was a Belgian gentleman who owns a collection of all of Aston Martin's current and limited-edition models.

And he's fine with only a few people driving it, which explains why I found myself sliding over a brushed aluminum treadplate with Aston Martin 1 of 1 carved within it earlier. With track time limited and foreboding clouds, the interior, like the rest of the Victor, is unique, but there's little opportunity to properly appreciate all the lovely detailing at first.

Automobile Reviews Kyle Fortune is a well-known figure in the Max Earey 02846 Aston Martin Victor

"The Aston Martin Victor has the feel of a true driver's car."

The V12's starter motor whirs before firing and settling into a remarkably cultured idle when I insert the key into its slot deep in the centre console before properly tightening the Schroth Racing four-point seatbelts and pressing the starter button on the steering wheel. The 7.3-litre V12 was stripped down to its block before being entirely rebuilt and tuned by Cosworth, Aston Martin's engine partner for the Valkyrie.

As a result of its efforts, the power has increased to 623kW and 821Nm. Lane admits that, like the engine, the prototype One-77 chassis was returned to its original supplier, Multimatic, and rebuilt as new.

Aston Martin's Vulcan track-only car donated its inboard springs and dampers, which are visible via the rear window, and there are six stage settings, built up by Aston's chassis engineers to work on the road.

The center-lock wheels are beautiful 20-inch lattice alloys with 285/30 ZR20 front and 325/30 ZR20 rear tyres, 380mm front and 360mm rear Brembo CCM-R carbon-ceramic discs, and six-piston calipers. Those brakes guarantee the same level of braking as a GT3 race vehicle.

Despite the Victor's intended, eventual, road use, Aston Martin also claims that computational fluid dynamic testing showed the Victor's distinctive body creates 60% more downforce at 160km/h than one of its Vantage GT4 race cars.

Kyle Fortune's Car Reviews Max Earey 01446 Aston Martin Victor

Maybe I should be driving quicker to get those Michelins through all that water. With the aquaplaning incident behind us and the location marked for the following lap, it's time to stretch that V12 down the long middle straight. Because of the puddles, the rear tyres lose contact for a brief while before the traction control does its best to gather everything up, fast steering corrections are required.

The traction control and ABS are controlled by knobs on the steering wheel, which, unsurprisingly, looks like it was ripped wholly from a Vulcan, but with the buttons tastefully bezelled in grey and the hand grips trimmed in green leather. There are no paddles behind it, however, because the transmission tunnel has a third pedal and a walnut-topped manual gearstick, unlike the Vulcan and One-77.

It's the Victor's manual transmission that sets it apart from the plethora of super and hypercars on the market today, with Lane admitting that it was included from the start since it made the project go more smoothly. The gearbox is a Graziano six-speed linked to a racing clutch, which makes it even more unique.

Engineers at Aston Martin tinkered with the materials to make it operate at highway speeds. The pedal isn't light, but it's also not so heavy that it's obstructive, with the large gearknob moving with precision and ease, its mechanicals visible below the open carbonfibre gullet that surrounds it.

Automobile Reviews Kyle Fortune is a well-known figure in the Max Earey 06146 Aston Martin Victor

The transmission is most engaging when you're standing on the middle pedal and roll your foot off to blip the V12 to rev match for downshifts, but it's also when you're standing on the middle pedal and roll your foot off to blip the V12 to rev match for downshifts. In a car with such a throwback homage to its aesthetics, such old-school thrills feel totally appropriate.

Fitting a paddle-shifted transmission would have been incorrect, and the Victor's personality would have been radically altered. From the magnificent music of its naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V12 engine, whose exhaust pipes emerge to the side of where my backside is positioned, right in front of the rear wheels, to the transmission that helps orchestrate it, to the playful character of the chassis, it's filled with it.

With those race harnesses securing me snugly, the driving position is low and focussed, embraced by the grasp of a superbly cushioned lightweight carbonfibre seat, the pedal spacing is great, and the gearstick is high and near the steering wheel to minimize time with your hand off the wheel.

As the track dries and the speeds increase, this is proving beneficial with all the small, and occasionally large, repairs required today. The steering is light, quick, and precise, albeit there isn't much lock if the back axle tries to overtake the front.

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It's also customizable, as silly as that may sound when applied to something so powerful, yet after a few laps, the Victor begins to toy around with me, moving around me reliably and smoothly switching from grip to slip. You must be patient while entering a corner, as some initial understeer must be neutralized before the rear can be coaxed out into a slide.

A large part of that is due to the manual transmission's installation. The owner could also just park it and stare at it, because it's immensely enthralling to look at, with the Muncher and V8 Vantage allusions nicely mixed up in its unique Pentland Green and slick carbonfibre bodywork. The Victor's beauty and proportions are not captured well in photographs. This is a vehicle that must be seen in person to be fully appreciated.

Inside, the same is true. Despite being a one-off, the Victor was built to production automobile standards. Traditional materials such as solid walnut for the gearknob and dash insert, green leather, and cashmere headlining are combined with more technical surfaces such as satin carbonfibre, anodized aluminum, and polished titanium to create a fantastic blend.

It's an excellently detailed combination, with the final result being simply lovely, albeit a traditional instrument cluster, rather than the adjustable TFT screen, could fit better with the overall motif.

Aston Martin claims the initiative is unlikely to be duplicated, owing to the fact that it no longer has any spare One-77 chassis on hand. The Victor's owner receives not only a one-of-a-kind vehicle, but one that is truly extraordinary.