Can Aston Martin really turn in more-or-less the same homework a second time and have people love it like it’s brand new again? When we’re talking about massively powerful front-engined manual supercars with ’70s-inspired styling, absolutely. This is the Aston Martin Valiant, and not only was this evolution of the Valour supercar developed in part by a Formula One driver, it also shares a name with a very different sort of vehicle.
What we’re looking at here is essentially Fernando Alonso’s personal vision of the manual, V12-powered Valour limited-edition supercar. In the words of the legend himself, “Valour was a spectacular celebration of Aston Martin’s 110th anniversary, and stirred me to create a more extreme, race car inspired version that was track focussed, while also delivering a thrilling drive on-road.” The end result turned out so well, it needed to be shared with the world, so Aston Martin is building just 38 of them.
At first glance, the changes over a standard Valour are obvious. Let’s start with the rear wing, a sizeable piece of hardware that ought to really plant the back end of this thing down the straightaways. Elsewhere, the front fenders have been pumped up, the skirt package has been beefed up with extra depth and more canards than an IMSA field, and a set of aerodynamic partial wheel covers cap off the downforce package. A front grille opened up with full-width slats adds some extra visual aggression, Multimatic ASV dampers keep the springs in check, and Bob’s your uncle.
Oh, and then there are all the little weight reduction measures to make the Valiant a little more special. The 3D-printed rear subframe shaves off three kilograms, the magnesium wheels drop 14 kg, a magnesium torque tube removes another 8.6 kilograms, and a lithium-ion battery removes 11.5 kilograms. Altogether, that’s 37.1 kilograms, or nearly 82 pounds. Weight you can feel, alright.
Under the hood of the Aston Martin Valiant sits a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V12 cranking out 734 horsepower, mated exclusively to a six-speed manual gearbox. It’s an old-meets-new formula and one that’s rather rare in the greater sphere of supercardom. If Aston could just keep cranking out row-your-own V12 cars until the eventual heat death of the universe.
However, there’s something weird about the Aston Martin Valiant — it shares a name with a Plymouth economy car. Made from 1959 to 1976 for the American market and covering four generations, the Valiant was Plymouth’s rock, a reliable, sensible, economically priced car that started life as a sensible way of getting around and ended as compact luxury transportation during the oil crisis years. In between, it sprouted all sorts of engine options including up to 5.9 liters of V8 engine, and spread its wings across the globe, as far and away as Australia, Argentina, and the United Kingdom.
It’s amusing that the Aston Martin Valiant — a carbon-bodied, multi-million-dollar, limited-production supercar — shares a name with a modest Plymouth, but that’s the way automotive name recycling goes. It’s certainly the fastest thing to ever go by the same model name as a cheap Plymouth, and that’s one weird flex nobody can take away from it.
(Photo credits: Aston Martin, Plymouth, Powerhouse Collection)
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How about the Vickers Valiant – a British high-altitude jet bomber designed to carry nuclear weapons? 567mph top speed at 30,000 feet.
Looks like a Mustang so the front is awful…also, tacked on screen on this car? Surprising and terrible. Love the drivetrain though. What I dislike the most is the use of Valiant…how can they use this name? Licensing? Either way, I just don’t like it since those were cool cars especially the ones down under that Laurence has covered…I just think that name has no business on a car like this, that’s all.
trademarks dont last forever. they have to be reupped. with plymouth dead its unlikely they were keeping up with things.
Aston Martin, a brand that nervously munches swamp grass with one eye on the sky for the impending asteroid.
Making for a swamp gas UFO?
Speaking about the Brits and odd (to North American sensibilities) naming, the Royal Navy once named a sub the HMS Truant. These are also the descendants of people who named a ship HMS Ajax only for it to blow up in the Dardanelles not far from historical Troy. This tracks.
Since you guys never have articles solely about the *Plymouth* Valiant (for good reason), I just have to take this opportunity to mention one of the best car review sub-heads of all time:
When the first generation Plymouth Barracuda was introduced in 1964, built on the same Chrysler A-Body platform as their other compact cars, the Road & Track road test lead with “A Valiant attempt at grand touring.” Still spicy after 60 years.
I love it! It looks like it’s going 100mph standing still. Damn I wish I was rich lol.
This headline reminds me of the time my parents dropped me off at school early one morning for 8th grade show choir practice. It was a bit foggy that morning and there was a Plymouth Volare in the parking lot whose driver had left its headlights on. I, being a bit of a dork, stopped in the office to report it. The secretary made an announcement over the PA about there being “A Volare in the parking lot with its lights on”. Cue every 8th grade boy in the building running pell-mell down the stairs from the choir room, rushing to check out the Ferrari in the parking lot.
I never confessed that it was I who made that report (until now).
I do like the wink at the 70s/80s Vantage in the headlights.
If I was rich, I would buy one. . .but I am not. 🙁
Who knows how much Alonso had to do with this, but to my eyes it looks more like Camaro with an extensive and over-cooked body kit, rather than a brute/elegant Aston.
I suppose Aston’s thinking was with Plymouth long gone as a nameplate, Stellantis looking to cut rather than revive brands, and the last Dodge Dart having been a flop there was no reason not to use Valiant.
Eh, I’d rather have a Valiant of the Plymouth kind.
NeEdS mOaR gRiLlE
“It’s certainly the fastest thing to ever go by the same model name as a cheap Plymouth, and that’s one weird flex nobody can take away from it.”
The Voyager space probes would like a word.
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Has anyone ever joined a pair of Slant Sixes to make a MacGyver V-12?
I see your Voyager and raise you a Laser.
Maybe. Is it a particle, or a wave?
How could you make a V12 out of the 2 slant sixes? With intake & exhaust on the same side, you’d have a complete mess of piping in the valley…. or something else completely wonky.
Now I’m intrigued!
Oh that’s easy, you just install one backwards. Problem solved! You’re all welcome, I’m going on break!
The grilles have taken over the headlamps.
How soon until they make it past the front wheels into the front doors?
Take a look at the Triumph TR4/TR5/TR250…
Oh jeez, Aston Martin. As soon as BMW and Lexus sees this, they’re gonna make their grilles even bigger.
Dammit.
So is Aston going mostly V names now (like in the ’00s when nearly every Ford car had to have an F name), saving the occasional DB for something special (again, just like Ford)?
That’s been the case for a long time – other than Rapide, I can’t think of a non-DB Aston model that didn’t start with V.
Well there was the Cygnet, depending on how far you want to stretch your definition of what constitutes an Aston. 😀
And going further back, there was the Lagonda.
But yeah, either as model names or variants (e.g. Volante for convertible), V names has been Aston’s thing for a long time now.
Well there’s the Dodge Veg-O-Matic
Wait, do I need a that if I already have a Bass-O-Matic?
Volante, Vantage, Virage, Vanquish, Valour…
They’ve been into V names for decades – this is nothing new.
Does the Valour come with upholstery in Velour?
Special Velour Order.