Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing unveil the AM-RB 001, their first collaborative hypercar capable of out-performing an LMP1 Le Mans sportscar.
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And here it is. This is the brand new Aston Martin hypercar, designed by the most successful designer in Formula 1 history.
Teased three months ago, this is the catchily titled AM-RB 001, created by Red Bull Racing chief technical officer Adrian Newey and Aston Martin designer Marek Reichman to be an ‘unprecedented fusion of form and function’. In a nutshell, that means it’ll go like stink when both a production-ready road-going version and a track-orientated model are unveiled further down the line, the latter of which could potentially outperform an LMP1 Le Mans prototype. LaFerrari, the Porsche 918 Spyder and McLaren’s P1 have some mighty bulls-eyes on their chests…
At present few technical details have been revealed in the marketing blurb, only that Aston – interestingly – has followed Koenigsegg‘s approach with a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio for the AM-RB 001. It’s been mooted though that Aston is aiming for a sub-1000kg kerb weight around the 900kg mark. The potential 900bhp will be produced – intriguingly – by a new, ‘high-revving’, mid-mounted naturally aspirated V12 (no turbochargers insight) that will also be mated with an Energy Recovery System. No news yet on the transmission either, only that it will feature ‘a clean-sheet design’. Looks like neither the Vulcan hypercar nor the brand new DB11 will share much of the 001’s new drivetrain.
Onto the bodywork, and surprisingly, for a car geared towards bucket loads of downforce, the AM-RB 001 has no unsightly rear spoiler. Instead, Newey’s Formula 1 know-how has been directed to the underbody and the front and rear diffusers to ‘stick’ the hypercar to the tarmac under cornering à la ‘ground effects’. Suspension meanwhile is in-board, and will ‘employ principles honed by Red Bull‘s Newey over his thirty year career’. So expect an active suspension system that can be tweaked for road and track use to play a key role there.
All this has allowed Reichman free range when sculpting the carbon fibre bodywork, giving it a striking, almost Pagani Huayra look. One, admittedly, with gullwing doors and no wing mirrors, the AM-RB 001 instead adopting a rear-facing cameras that will display an image onto the dashboard. Inside both driver and passenger – yep, two seats – sit with their legs raised for the full F1/LMP1 parallel. And the Vuhl 05RR, now that we think about it…
Production numbers vary between 99 and 150, with up to 25 track-ready versions of the AM-RB 001 set to be built and likely to include wider performance tyres, a larger rear track and revised aero. Production and development will continue with Aston Martin’s Q branch – responsible in part for the new Vanquish Zagato – and Red Bull Advanced Technologies ahead of a 2018 arrival date. And the price? We’ve no idea, other than it will be chuffing huge. Or, as Aston CEO Andy Palmer describes it, “very, very expensive”. Don’t expect anything less than $3 million.
