Words: Zoe Dickens
Most of us can only dream about what we’d create given the money and automotive know-how to commission something completely bespoke from one of the world’s great car marques. So, when someone actually does it, it rightly causes quite the stir.
Meet the Aston Martin Victor. Created by the brand’s in house coachbuilder, Q by Aston Martin, it is a completely unique model created for a private customer – and it’s quite something. Unveiled just last week, it’s already taken home its first accolade, having won the Future Classic Class at Hampton Court Palace’s Concours of Elegance this weekend.
Inspired by the classic Aston Martin V8 Vantage of the 1970s and 1980s, the car takes its name from Victor Gauntlett, the former executive chairman of Aston Martin. Not only did Gauntlett oversee much of the production of the V8, he was also responsible for turning the marque around during his tenure and, famously, persuaded James Bond back into the driving seat of an Aston in 1987’s The Living Daylights. Accordingly, the Victor is a car Bond would be more than happy to take for a spin.
At the Victor’s base is a refurbished carbon monocoque chassis taken from the One-77 while power has also been sourced from the One-77 in the form of a 7.3 litre V12 engine. Now nearing a decade old, the engine has been back in the shop for a tinker and come out boasting an immense 836bhp – a significant, if perhaps completely unnecessary, improvement on the original’s 750bhp. This is true road-legal hypercar territory so let’s hope its new owner is a skilled driver – the whole thing is kept under control by a six-speed manual gearbox making this Aston Martin’s most powerful manual car ever.
Aesthetically, the Victor is a direct carbon fibre descendant of the Vantage with a brutish nose to house that engine, a classic ducktail spoiler and plenty of curves – it’s even finished in Pentland Green, a close sibling to the Buckinghamshire Green available on the original Vantage. However, while the style may be retro, Aston used computer fluid dynamic testing (no, us neither) to optimise the Victor’s downforce, producing a massive 842Nm. At 100mph it will produce 300Nm of downforce more than the company’s Vantage GT4 race car – which should help keep things under control.
Inside, the Victor is F1 meets private members’ club. It has racing seats and a track-style steering column that has been lifted from the Vulcan but the whole interior, including the doors and dashboard are crafted in contrasting deep green and tan leathers and satin carbon fibre. Not luxurious enough for you? Perhaps a walnut gear knob and cashmere door pillars will help tip the scale.
So is the Victor what we’d create given all the money (its price, of course, has not been disclosed) in the world? It certainly comes close.
Looking for more? Here are Gianni Agnelli’s most incredible yachts and cars…
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