Aston Martin is to build a road-worthy track version of its Valor sports car – the Valiant – personally built by its Formula 1 driver Fernando Alonso.
Aston will produce 38 Valiants, which will be front-engined and powered by a 745PS 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 power unit.
The car also features wheel covers inspired by Aston's 'Muncher' car, which performed very poorly at the Le Mans 24 Hours event in 1979.
The car is being produced by Aston's 'Q' production division, which allows prospective owners to individually style the look of their cars.
“The Valor was a great celebration of Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary, and it inspired me to create a more extreme, race car-inspired version that focused on the track, while also providing a thrilling drive on the road,” said Alonso in Aston’s official press release.
“The Valiant is born from my passion for driving at the extremes and I have enjoyed working closely with the Q by Aston Martin team on both the design and technical specification and I believe we have created a masterpiece.”
The Aston press release also states that the Valiant “continues the strong lineage of Aston Martins that deliver genuine driving intensity on both road and track, including the best hypercar, the Valkyrie, the brand's most focused sports car, the Vantage, and its brother in speed, the Vantage GT3 race car, and of course the upcoming mid-engine supercar, the Valhalla.”
The Valkyrie, which was co-designed by Adrian Newey and who is now set to reveal his full RB17 hypercar before leaving Red Bull, will be entered by Aston in the World Endurance Championship from 2025.
Aston's decision to produce the Valiant comes after Alpine created a track-focused version of its Alpine A110 R car, named the 'Alpine A110 R Fernando Alonso'.
Aston Martin Valiant
Photo: Aston Martin
In October 2022, Alpine revealed it was moving to build 32 versions of the car – a number chosen to reflect Alonso's Grand Prix wins to date – as the two-time F1 World Champion had already decided to leave the Renault-owned manufacturer to join Aston for 2023.
He recently signed a new deal to race in F1 with the Green Team beyond 2025, including in a still-to-be-defined off-track role, which Alonso has described as a “lifetime project” at the manufacturer.
“The Valiant is a modern masterpiece,” said Marco Mattiacci, who was Alonso's boss at the Ferrari F1 team briefly in 2014 and is now global chief brand and commercial officer of Aston Martin Lagonda.
“The creation of Q by Aston Martin, is inspired by a racing legend and conceived using the latest F1 inspired technology, exotic materials and obsessive weight reduction.
“It aims to provide the driver with a truly unique, intense and emotional driving experience.”
“The ultimate blend of performance, track-focused dynamics and hypercar intensity, the Valiant embodies Aston Martin’s steadfast commitment to building rare and exceptional cars for true drivers.”