It’s mean and roofless
New open-top Spider version will hit 217mph and is due next year
The new open-top version of Aston Martin’s Valkyrie hypercar is said to give “the most comparable experience to that of an F1 car, not limited to the track”.
Revealed at the Pebble Beach Concours d’elegance as part of Monterey Car Week in California, the Valkyrie Spider is limited to just 85 examples, a build run that Aston says is already “oversubscribed”, ahead of customer deliveries beginning in mid-2022. Both left- and right-hand-drive models will be available.
It’s the third derivative of the Valkyrie to be shown, following the near-ready standard coupé and track-only AMR Pro version, and it represents what is so far a unique opportunity for an open-roof, combustion-engined hypercar. The Valkyrie’s closest rivals, the Mclaren Speedtail and Mercedes-amg One, have not yet been shown in drop-top form.
Power output from the Cosworth-developed hybridised V12 is unchanged, at 1160bhp, and revisions to the hypercar’s carbonfibre tub and aerodynamics package ensure that the Spider is closely matched to the hard-top car in terms of its performance.
The active aero and chassis elements have been recalibrated to suit the car’s new shape, while the weight penalty – usually a pitfall of convertible models – is kept to a minimum by the use of a carbonfibre removable roof section and polycarbonate roof windows.
The most significant modification is the replacement of the coupé’s gullwing-style, centre-hinged doors with fronthinged ‘scissor’ doors – the first to be fitted on an Aston Martin model.
With these modifications in place, Aston claims “just a marginal” weight difference and says the Spider will top out at more than 217mph, or 205mph with the roof off.
The firm has yet to build and test a physical prototype but says development is “well under way” courtesy of its “powerful simulation tools”.
Aston CEO Tobias Moers said the Spider takes the Valkyrie’s “passion and emotion to the next level”. He added that he “cannot wait to hear” the mid-mounted engine revving to its 11,000rpm redline with the roof removed.