Cars are fascinating - originally created as a means of transportation, they have become much more. A collector's item, a status symbol, and for many, a hobby.
But the car I'm going to introduce today isn't just any car - when I first read about this so-called "Hypercar", it was hard to believe that it's even legal on the streets.

Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing reveal their ground-breaking hypercar: Aston Martin Valkyrie.
The product of a unique Innovation Partnership between the British luxury brand and eminent F1TM team, this ambitious, uncompromising and wholly extraordinary collaboration combines the vision and skills of two world-leading brands to create a road car the like of which has never been seen before.

Meet the Valkyrie - A new 1000 PS Hypercar by Aston Martin & Red Bull!

The Valkyrie is not only a unique combination of racecar and luxury car, it's also a revolution in itself: it will be world's fastest electric car.

This goes to show how far the production of electric / hybrid cars ahve developed, and how big of an impact electric cars will have in the future!

Cooperation with Red Bull

Nicknamed the "ultimate hypercar", luxury brand Aston Martin has teamed up with the Formula 1 Racing Team of Red Bull to create the most innovative hypercar yet.
They didn't only want to make a luxury sportscar - it was supposed to have the power of a true racing car, while still feeling luxurious and classy.
To achieve this, Aston Martin got in touch with Adrian Newey, the legendary Formula One "racing guru" at Red Bull.
When talking about his design experience, Newey states:

“The whole thing came about in 2014. I felt as if I needed a new challenge beyond Formula One, and something I’d always wanted to do, from when I was a child, was to design a road car. In the process of renewing my contract at Red Bull, I spoke to Dietrich Mateschitz, our Austrian owner, and Christian Horner about the idea and in the August break I started sketching out some ideas. I sat back and thought, OK, clean sheet of paper, what would we like to produce?”

What he came up with was a hypercar that features elements of both worlds of racing- and road cars, combining speed and performance with luxury and comfort.

Performance and Details

The Valkyrie is a hybrid, and features a 6.5-litre V12 motor.
It's said to have over 1000 PS, while being extremely light - only 1000 Kg.
This is thanks to the lightweight carbon-fiber shell.
The maximum speed should be around 400 km/h (around 250 mph)!
There are only up to 175 units to be made - each one with a price tag of about $3 - 3,5 Million.

Valkyrie is said to be released in 2019. I will be the world's first – and fastest – electric hypercar.

‘The synergy between Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin is clear,’ said Newey. ‘I knew Red Bull Racing had the ability to handle the pure performance aspects, but Aston Martin’s experience of making beautiful, fast and comfortable GT cars is of great benefit to the project. I’ve always been adamant that it should be a true road car that’s also capable of extreme performance on track, and this means it really has to be a car of two characters. That’s the secret we’re trying to put into this car - the technology that allows it to be docile and comfortable, but with immense outright capabilities.’
-Adrian Newey

Interior Design

When it comes to the interior design of the Valkyrie, comfort was one of the most important aspects.
Race cars are usually not very spacious, comfortable or luxurious - all things that Aston Martin wanted to change.

Newey describes how there were a few “points of contention,” aka big fat arguments, with Aston along the way. “They didn’t believe two people could comfortably sit side by side in it, so they went away and made a seating buck and were completely shocked that you could.” As he wanted to keep the front bulkhead as narrow as possible for aero, Newey’s solution was to angle the occupants inwards by 5º – there were mumblings from within Aston that this would be disorientating. Newey fired up the simulator and proved it wasn’t the case.

The steering wheel is held in classic F1 style with a square design and countless buttons.

The dashboard features a central touchscreen, as well as two other screens on either side as in-board, camera-powered wing mirrors.
(Of course there are no actual wing mirrors due to wind resistance, but the 2 cameras are hidden in the side gills behind the front wheels).

"It's been a tremendous challenge to make the interior packaging work. We've embraced Red Bull Racing's Formula One ethos and approached from a different angle than conventional road car design. In this instance, we've started from a position where you think something is impossible and work at it until you find a way to make it work."
-Matt Hill, Interior Design Chief of Aston Martin