AM-RB 003 to be called Valhalla
Aston Martin has finally decided on a name for the AM-RB 003 supercar that is in the pipeline – it will be called Valhalla. The car’s name follows the Valkyrie’s tradition of borrowing its name from Norse mythology, and also continues the tradition of having a name start with the letter V.
The Valhalla is a mid-engine supercar that will follow the launch of the Valkyrie. It will not have the same stratospherical performance of the Valkyrie, but will sit under it while borrowing a lot of inspiration from the halo car. It has been developed by Adrien Newey as a part of the Aston Martin- Red Bull Advanced Technologies partnership, and will feature a turbocharged V6 engine with hybrid technology. The engine will drive the rear wheels and an electric motor driving the front wheels. Light-weighting will be a huge focus with the Valhalla getting a carbon body and carbon chassis too.
It certainly looks like it has spawned from the Valkyrie, with a similar nose with plenty of aero addenda and a large diffuser tunnels, with the underbody playing a huge role in the downforce. It has a Naca ducts up front for the HVAC system, the side vents on the bonnet scoops up air, runs it thorugh the door and feeds it to the mid-mounted engine. The headlamps are lightweight as well – a whole set of lamps for the Valhalla would weigh the same as a single headlamp from any current production Aston Martin. The Valhalla will also feature flex-foil technology, which allows surfaces to reprofile themselves to create more downforce or reduce drag – like the wing of the car and bits of aero parts on the front.
The name Valhalla refers to a hall in Asgard, one of the nine realms in Norse mythology. The hall is described as a warrior’s paradise, where the souls of anyone killed in battle goes. Incidentally (or not), the souls are chosen and guided by Valkyries, a group of warrior maidens who gather those slain in battle. Aston Martin are clearly linking the Valhalla to the Valkyrie, and have done so in the past too – they had dubbed the AM-RB 003 ‘Son of Valkyrie’. The Valhalla name also drawn on the legacy of Aston Martin naming their cars with the letter V. It started way back in 1951, when the high-performance model of the DB2 was called the Vantage. It never appeared as a badge on that car though. That happened with the DB5, and remained a tag for the most-focussed Astons up until 2005, when it became a separate model in itself.
The Valhalla will be a super exclusive car, and Aston says it will be limited to 500 Coupe units worldwide.
