The AM-RB 003 Hypercar’s Official Name Is The Aston Martin 'Valhalla'

Aston Martin has announced that its next mid-engined supercar will be called the Valhalla. The Valhalla was first introduced to us at this year’s Geneva motor show alongside the similar-looking, but not identical, mid-engined Vanquish Vision Concept. Back then the Valhalla went by the codename AM-RB 003.

Sadly, along with the car’s name Aston Martin hasn’t announced any new technical details about the car. What we do know is that the Valhalla will have a mid-mounted turbocharged V6 engine supplemented by an electric hybrid system. The exact power output has not yet been confirmed, but expect the Valhalla to be a rival to Ferrari’s recently-announced 986bhp SF90 Stradale and McLaren’s next P1.

The Valhalla will share many aspects with Aston Martin’s flagship hypercar, the Valkyrie. Not only are the two being engineered in collaboration with Red Bull Advanced Technologies, the firm behind Red Bull’s F1 cars, and headed by Adrian Newey, a man who needs little introduction if you have even a passing interest in cars, both cars will use a carbon fibre chassis and bodywork. Like its V12-powered bigger brother, the Valhalla will be a limited model with Aston Martin building just 500 cars, 350 more than the Valkyrie.

The name Valhalla continues a now 68-year tradition of Aston Martins with names beginning with the letter V. The long-established and most popular name, Vantage, car trace its Aston Martin origins back to 1951 when it was applied to the hottest versions of the DB2. Since then we’ve also had Vanquishs, Volantes and Virages.

The Valhalla has been named after a place in Norse mythology, a heaven for warriors who had fought for the god Odin. Unless you’re a scholar of ancient Scandinavian legends, you might not know that Valhalla has a connection with the name of Aston Matin’s other hypercar - it was the Valkyries that carried the fallen soldiers to Valhalla.

The etymology of the name hasn’t escaped the attention of CEO of Aston Martin Lagonda, Andy Palmer:

“For those fortunate enough to own one I’m sure they will recognise and appreciate the name’s connotations of glory and happiness, for there can be few more hallowed places than the driver’s seat of an Aston Martin Valhalla.”

When the car is officially launched, and the reviews come flooding in, expect to read the phrase ‘I think I’ve died and gone to heaven’ a lot.