Aston Martin Valour

Aston Martin Valour at a glance

The Valour belongs to the line of front-engined V12 Aston Martins such as the Aston Martin Vanquish and the Aston Martin Vantage V12. All models of the brand are in the Aston Martin catalogue.

History: 110 cars for 110 years

Aston Martin first showed the Valour in July 2023. The occasion was the company's 110th anniversary, and the production number matched it: 110 cars. They were built at Gaydon in Warwickshire in 2023 and 2024.

The Valour followed an earlier one-off, the Victor. The Victor was built on the basis of the One-77 and was itself inspired by the 1977 V8 Vantage. The Valour shares the Victor's design approach but not its technology. Instead of the One-77, it uses the mechanical base of Aston Martin's regular sports cars of the time, the 2018 Vantage and the DBS.

Design inspired by the 1977 V8 Vantage

The Valour's shape looks back to the V8 Vantage of 1977, translated into a modern two-door coupé.

The car is 4,599 mm long, 1,987 mm wide and 1,274 mm high, with a 2,705 mm wheelbase. Its kerb weight is 1,780 kg. The V12 sits at the front, behind the axle line, and drives the rear wheels through the manual gearbox.

Engine and manual gearbox

The engine is a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12, based on the unit introduced in the DBS in 2018. In the Valour it produces 526 kW (715 PS) and 753 Nm.

The most important feature of the car is its gearbox: the Valour has a six-speed manual made by Graziano. It drives the rear wheels.

Top Gear's Ollie Kew, writing on 3 July 2024, called the Valour a "worthy successor to the Vantage V600 of the 1990s". He also said that it was "impossible to make a sensible case for, but laudable all the same just for existing".

Valiant: the track-focused version

The Valiant was shown at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2024. It is a road-legal but track-focused version of the Valour, limited to 38 cars. The idea came from Formula One driver Fernando Alonso, who had asked Aston Martin for a personal one-off car.

The Valiant has 548 kW (745 PS) and the same 753 Nm of torque as the Valour. Its body is made of carbon fibre with more aggressive aerodynamics, producing 383 kg of downforce. Aston Martin saved weight with a titanium exhaust with four tailpipes, a lighter torque tube, a lithium-ion battery, a 3D-printed rear subframe and a simpler steering wheel. A roll cage is fitted.

The chassis uses Multimatic Adaptive Spool Valve (ASV) dampers and carbon-ceramic brakes. The magnesium wheels have carbon fibre aero covers inspired by the 1980 RHAM/1 "Muncher".

The original V8 Vantage

The car that inspired the Valour's look, the V8 Vantage, was the high-performance version of the Aston Martin V8 built from 1969 to 1989. Wikipedia lists the Vantage production as follows:

Like the Valour, the classic V8 cars were offered with a five-speed manual gearbox from ZF, as well as an automatic.

Legacy

The Valour combines a twin-turbo V12 with a manual gearbox. It connects Aston Martin's 110th anniversary with the look of its 1970s V8 cars and with the mechanical base of its 2018 sports cars. The Valiant, built in only 38 examples, took the same idea onto the race track. Both cars were built at Gaydon, and both keep the front-mounted 5.2-litre V12 and the manual gearbox, while the Valiant adds carbon bodywork, a roll cage and more aerodynamic downforce. More about the company is in our history of Aston Martin.

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