FIRST DRIVE! Aston Martin Victor - Flat Out In £4m V12 Manual Hypercar 25 May 2021
This week I had the privilege of taking out the Aston Martin Victor, a 1 of 1 bespoke commission that is truly a phenomenal thing!
As I often say about the cars I test drive on here, the camera really does not do it justice. The sculpture and details of the car are beautiful, channelling a retro vibe inspired by the 80’s. As far as a melting pot of wish list parts go, this car is a dream, with elements of One-77, a Vulcan and a sprinkling of an Aston Martin Valkyrie.
The Victor is driven by a 7.3L naturally aspirated V12 developed by Cosworth, producing over 830bhp. But the big-ticket news is that it’s running Brembo racing carbon ceramic brakes and most importantly is all driven through a manual gearbox!
When you’re inside the car, the size of the dashboard is noticeably something you could probably land a small aircraft on, suggesting how much of this V12 sits underneath it. The internal colour scheme of tan and green, integrated with carbon fibre, holds the distinct smell of leather and is refined and beautifully sculpted. You could look around this car ten times, and on the eleventh time, see something entirely different. If there’s any one feature on this car that screams One-77, it’s the iconic boot decoration. Showcasing the push-rod suspension with exposed carbon fibre struts, the detailing on this section is nothing short of absolutely amazing.
Taking the car out onto the track for a drive, the sound is completely incredible. The exhausts have been positioned on the side of the car, placed intentionally to be directly in line with your head, which, when you’re sat inside the car, is only about 3ft away. This feat of engineering means you can hear every single one of those revs, as the sound resonates on both side of your head.
With light steering, insane throttle response and ridiculous acceleration, the crazy juxtaposition of the Victor is that some parts of it feel like a road car, but the brakes do feel more in line with a racing car. The manual gearbox does take some adjusting to, however overall, I’m surprised at how comfortable I feel driving it, after spending some time driving a Vulkan previously.
This really is a beautiful piece of craftmanship, and its originality shines through, to what will hopefully be the start of a roll out of special projects.
FIRST DRIVE! Aston Martin VICTOR Flat Out In £4m V12 Manual Hypercar! - YouTube