Aston Martin to build street-legal version of its Valkyrie hypercar

Aston Martin will build a hybrid supercar code-named “003", based on the Valkyrie platform and due to arrive in 2021.

This sketch is all that’s available now of the “003” supercar, but you can see its Valkyrie lineage in the shape of the body.

It’s the third high-performance, mid-engine car that Aston Martin will have built in recent years, following the original $2.6 million Aston Martin Valkyrie and Valkyrie AMR Pro (called “001” and “002,” respectively) that debuted in 2017.

The company confirmed its plans as the brand plans to go public in a US$6.7 billion initial public offering later this year in London.

It fits into what Andy Palmer, president and group chief executive of Aston Martin Lagonda, previously said about plans to more than double the number of cars the company will sell over the next decade.

Until recently, Aston Martin had lost money for years. But last year’s revenue increased by half, thanks to new models such as the DB11, and the company reported £87 million (A$156 million) of pretax profit, plus positive free cash flow, in May.

It’s putting those profits heavily into developing progressive cars such as the 003: according to Bloomberg reports, Aston Martin spent £224 million, or one-quarter of sales, on research and development last year.

Information on the latest British beast remains scant, though company executives have promised a road-legal vehicle built around “a lightweight structure” and powered by a turbocharged hybrid engine.

They say the car will be fully homologated and available in all markets, in both left- and right-hand driver setups – important because the emphasis will be on daily driving duty, rather than track-only use, as with the Valkyrie models. It’ll even have room for a small amount of luggage.

“It was vital to us that Valkyrie would create a legacy,” Palmer said. “The Project 003 ... is our next step into a dynamic and exacting arena.”

Representatives declined to describe the car’s likely performance, including top speeds and whether its hybrid technology would funnel through Aston’s electric-only Lagonda brand.

A sketch shows preliminary body styling slightly squared at the edges and rounded through the middle. A spokeswoman would not rule out the possibility of an open-top roadster version appearing eventually.

The 003 will come to market in late 2021. The first production vehicles will be seen during the second half of 2019 – "not necessarily at an auto show,” the spokeswoman said. Only 500 of the coupes will be sold worldwide.

Hannah Elliott

Hannah Elliott is the resident motoring writer at Bloomberg.