ASTON MARTIN VALHALLA

The Valhalla is a survivor.

- JACK RIX

We first saw it as the filling in a mid engine sandwich at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show – Valkyrie above it, ‘entry level’ Vanquish below. This was also the show where former CEO Andy Palmer, on a crazed pre-IPO pump, revealed an all new fully electric Lagonda sub brand. He was given the boot a year later, along with that Lagonda monstrosity and the Maserati MC20 rivalling Vanquish... but the Valhalla rode on. In 2021 we saw a new version – now AMG V8 powered – reshaped and re-engineered under the eye of Tobias Moers. Moers made way for Amedeo Felisa in May 2022, and Felisa for Adrian Hallmark in October 2024. It’s been musical chairs in the CEO’s office and yet each time, and despite the Valkyrie’s tortuous route to production, the Valhalla has passed scrutiny.

Which brings us to this, the production version, and while the path to get here was long and winding, the destination is glorious.

A 1,064bhp V8 hybrid supercar/hypercar (if anyone knows where the line is, drop me an email, I’ve lost track) designed to deliver sledgehammer performance but without the Valk’s zero compromise approach, limited to 999 units and costing £850,000 a pop. We’ll get to the engineering wizardry in a moment, but for now let’s dwell on that price. Measure it by the £450,000 V12 hybrid Lamborghini Revuelto and it’s a lot of dough, but compare it with the slightly more powerful and downforce laden McLaren W1 (£2m) and Ferrari F80 (£3.1m), cars to which I’d argue the Valhalla is closer in purpose, and it’s the bargain of the year.

“I’m probably biased, but I think the car is quite a lot more beautiful than the competition. I think when you chase higher and higher downforce numbers, the car becomes very functional looking and loses some of the elegance,” says chief engineer for the Valhalla, Andrew Kay.