Aston Martin will start branding its fastest, most extreme cars as AMR, for Aston Martin Racing, starting with the Rapide AMR and Vantage AMR Pro at the Geneva motor show.
Aston has done this before, though the cars weren’t labeled AMR — first in the mid-1930s with the car it used in the Ulster TT road race; in 1951 with a Vantage; and in 1959 with the DBR1.
“The AMR brand was a logical next step after the ’sold-out’ success of limited-edition sporting versions like the Vantage GT8 and Vantage GT12,” said Marek Reichman, Aston Martin executive vice president and chief creative officer. “Each time we have pushed the boundaries and done something extreme, the customers have loved the cars. AMR enables us to take Aston Martin into a new dimension.”
The four-door Rapide AMR gets upgrades in power, chassis and styling, as well as a new racy interior. It features a 591-hp version of Aston’s 6.0-liter V12 making it good for a top speed of 210 mph. It gets 21-inch alloy wheels at the corners, a new grille, front splitter, side sills, rear diffuser and spoiler. It’s painted in Aston’s Stirling green and yellow racing colors.
Inside, the Rapide AMR has lightweight carbon-fiber seats, carbon-fiber trim, lime-green accents and dark suede upholstery.
The Vantage AMR Pro is for the track only, sporting a 500-hp V8 from Aston’s GT4 race car. It comes with adjustable suspension, upgraded engine and transmission mounts and center lock wheels with Michelin Pilot Cup 2 tires.
It’s painted in the same green and yellow hues with the same hood and wing as the World Endurance Championship winner. A new front clip includes a new bumper, grille, front valance, splitter, front fenders, sills and the rear diffuser.
Both cars are going into production, according to Aston CEO Andy Palmer. The Vantage AMR Pro gets a small run of seven cars; 210 Rapide AMRs will be built. Palmer does say that, eventually, every car in Aston Martin’s fleet will get an AMR version.
Elsewhere at Aston’s Geneva stand, the company finally named its Le Mans-racer-looking hypercar. The AM-RB 001 will now follow the rest of the company’s V cars and be known simply as Valkyrie.
Michelin provides the tires, again Pilot Sport Cup 2s, measuring 265/35 ZR20 in front and 325/30 ZR21 in back. That rubber rides on lightweight magnesium alloy wheels, 9.5 inches wide in front, 11.5 inches wide in back. Michelin joins engine builder Cosworth, transmission company Ricardo, carbon-fiber specialist Mulitmatic, hybrid company Rimac, Bosch and few others in producing the Valkyrie.
We don’t know too much more about the car. Aston told us it will use a midmounted V12, deliver 1 hp per kilo, and both road and track versions will be built with production limited to somewhere in between 99 and 150 examples. The price will be in the multimillion dollar range. Valkyrie goes on sale next year.