One-off Aston Martin Victor has pseudo-retro looks, an 848-hp V12 and a manual transmission
The Victor rides on a One-77 chassis, uses Vulcan components, has a green interior and is just badass overall.
The one-off Victor is inspired by the '70s Vantage.
Aston Martin has become known in recent years for releasing a number of low-volume, crazily styled, extremely expensive models, especially through collaborations with Zagato. But today the latest creation from Aston's bespoke Q division came to light, and this one-off might be the craziest car the brand has ever built. (Well, except for the F1-inspired Valkyrie.) Meet the Aston Martin Victor, which made its surprise public debut today at the Hampton Court Palace Concours in the UK. While the owner apparently wants to keep the car -- and their identity -- fairly low-key, Aston has kindly released a bunch of photos and information about this V12-powered bespoke one-off.
The Victor's styling was inspired by the muscle-car-like V8 Vantage of the 1970s and '80s -- my personal favorite Aston of all time -- as well as the DBS-based RHAM/1 race car, and I can totally see it. The Victor's brutal, angular look is very different from anything else Aston currently makes, with round headlights, a large open grille and massive front splitter, a lovely greenhouse and rear haunches, and a pert rear end with a giant ducktail spoiler and a big diffuser. It's retro without being cheesy, referential without being heavy-handed, and the Pentland Green paint lends the Victor a bit of classiness. I've gotta say, I'm pretty freakin' obsessed with this thing.
The inside is a lot less retro, taking most of its cues from the track-only Vulcan and other modern Astons. Nearly all the major surfaces are covered in Forest Green or Conker Brown leather, but the Victor's interior also makes use of walnut wood, cashmere, satin carbon fiber and aluminum and titanium for accents and trim pieces. There's a small central touchscreen, a digital gauge cluster, the race car-derived steering wheel from the Vulcan and almost no other switchgear. Oh yeah, and there's a manual shifter.
Yes, you read that right. The Victor has a six-speed manual transmission attached to its engine. The engine in question is pretty damn phenomenal, too. It's the same naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V12 from the excellent One-77, but it's tuned up to produce 848 horsepower and 606 pound-feet of torque, quite a bit more than the One-77's 760 hp and 553 lb.-ft. This makes the Victor even more powerful than the Vulcan as well, and it's the most powerful car Aston has ever produced with a manual transmission. And we're sure the side-exit exhaust makes an absolutely incredible sound.
How can you argue with a wooden shift knob?
The Victor also rides on the same carbon-fiber monocoque chassis as the One-77, but with upgraded components and know-how taken from the Vulcan. The Victor's body is also made fully from carbon, and Aston says it weighs less overall than the One-77 did. And in addition to being light and good-looking, the Victor's aerodynamic body provides a lot more downforce than the Vantage GT4 race car. The inboard, adjustable suspension was also taken from the Vulcan, and the Victor has massive carbon-ceramic brakes hidden behind the center-lock wheels.
Aston won't say how much the Victor costs, but with the new V12 Speedster costing $950,000 and being a lot more common (relatively) and based on a much more normal model, the Victor has to have set its owner back a few million dollars. As someone that isn't even close to being able to afford the Victor, I can say that it seems to have been worth it. Let's hope the Victor's owner takes it to other car shows and uses the hell out of it so us mere mortals may have a chance to bask in its glory in person.