Aston Martin Names Its Next Mid-Engined Hypercar the Valhalla
Aston Martin has announced that its V-6–powered, mid-engined hypercar will be named Valhalla, the name for the "warrior's paradise" in Norse mythology.
The car will appear in the upcoming James Bond film with Daniel Craig, according to Forbes.
Production will be limited to 500 copies, priced at about $1.3 million.
Sometimes we get things wrong, and when that happens, the C/D fact-checking department makes its collective displeasure painfully felt. But sometimes, just sometimes, we get things spectacularly right. In this case, it is Aston Martin's confirmation, today, of its latest car's name: Valhalla. We suggested the automaker should do so back in March.
The car, the second of the mid-engined cars that Aston is developing with the Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team, will co-star with Daniel Craig in the upcoming James Bond film, according to Forbes. Our sources in Aston confirm that the name had already been decided well before our story, so we can't claim credit for the final decision. And we're only taking a modest amount of the journalistic scoop itself, which was based on the name's association with the existing Aston Martin Valkyrie and the limiting factor of Aston's tradition of starting sports-car names with the letter V. (In Norse mythology, Valhalla is the enormous heavenly hall where half the warriors killed in combat are taken by female Valkyries.)
We still have plenty more questions about what we can expect from the new car's hybridized turbocharged V-6 powerplant and about the exact technical relationship it will enjoy with the Valkyrie. We already know that, like the V-12–engined Valkyrie, the Valhalla will use a front-keel design with airflow channeled around the cabin's teardrop plan form. We also know that it will incorporate active aerodynamics, including flexing wing elements built into the bodywork.
Aston has said that no more than 500 Valhalla coupes will be built, although the company has failed to rule out also producing an open-topped version. It's going to cost the equivalent of about $1.3 million, so if you don't have your name down already then start saving.
And before you start trying to think up any more mythology-themed V names for the third mid-engined car that Aston has confirmed is under development, remember it already has a name that looks set to make it to production, the disappointingly non-Norse Vanquish. If the company does need another, then Völva-a female shaman-hasn't been taken yet, although it does run the risk of causing confusion with a brand better known for boxy utes and station wagons.
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