Aston Martin has a new carbon-fiber rocket that makes its utterly insane One-77, a $1.2-million, handmade 700-horsepower supercar, look downright tame. It's called the Vulcan, it's got an 800-horsepower V12 and it will cost a cool $2.3 million. Oh, and Aston will build just two dozen of them.
The esteemed British automaker is following a path well travelled by automakers who have found it can be difficult to keep people coming back once you've sold them a seven-figure supercar. So they do what Hollywood does: release a sequel. It's a strategy that has in the past year alone seen McLaren riff on the P1 by offering the P1 GTR and Ferrari top its LaFerrari with the FXX K. These are track-only machines, unfettered by things like emissions or safety regulations, allowing them to offer heart-stopping performance with prices to match.
Now comes Aston Martin, which blew everyone away a few years back with the stunning One-77. This time around it's dropping jaws with the Vulcan, a name we like because it doesn't seem like something pulled from a bag of Scrabble tiles. It's made entirely of carbon fiber, with the 7.0-liter V12 mounted just behind the front axle and driving the rear wheels.
Reading Aston's description of the car is dizzying. It's all top-shelf stuff. Carbon monocoque. Magnesium torque tube and carbon driveshaft. Brembo calipers clamping down on carbon ceramic rotors. The six-speed gearbox is mounted at the back for better balance. No word on what this car weighs, but Aston says the power-to-weight ratio exceeds that of the GTE-class cars that compete in the World Endurance Championship races.
Aston Martin breaks with the current trend in propulsion. The world's fiercest cars have gone hybrid, but Aston is stuffing a naturally aspirated V12 under the hood. That's right. No turbocharger, no supercharger.
The Vulcan is designed solely for the track, and Aston promises it "will comply with all relevant FIA race safety requirements." That means you'll be able to race it, no additional hardware required. When you're dropping seven figures on a car, you can have it in any color you like, but we thoroughly recommend Aston's traditional alloro green.
In a further nod to the car's racing cred, the decision to build just 24 of them is a nod to Aston's history with 24-hour endurance races. There are few people on earth capable of exploring this car's potential, which is why Aston's here to help. Owners will be offered an "extensive and detailed program of intensive track driver training." In other words, before the company turns you loose with a Vulcan, it will train you on something like the V12 Vantage S, which has just 560 horsepower. Students will then graduate to a Vantage GT4 race car and eventually to the Vulcan. You'll also hone your skills a racing simulator so you can find, and exceed, your limits without the need for things like a tow truck or medevac helicopters.
Look for further specs and performance figures at the Geneva auto show next month, and for the car on race tracks by the end of the year.
