Aston Martin is planning to launch a mid-engined supercar, and a completely new model range, that will be positioned below the forthcoming Valkyrie hypercar pictured above. The plan was confirmed by Aston CEO Andy Palmer during an interview with Car and Driver at the Geneva auto show. It will result in a new model targeted directly at Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren.
?Valkyrie is the start of a mid-engine dynasty, if you want to call it that,? Palmer said. ?The reason we?re doing it is to create a halo car, but also to create DNA for a mid-engined sports-car range.? That?s right: He said ?range,? meaning that there could very well be more than one on the way, although whether that means distinct models or a family of variants?or both?isn’t yet clear. ?The project is in the design studio right now, but the mandate for that car or cars is, basically, how do we ensure that it?s beautiful, how do you make function follow form rather than the other way around" If it?s going to be an Aston Martin, it will have to be beautiful,? Palmer told C/D. ?The car will need to be fantastic; it will have to compete with some bloody good rivals. Doing Valkyrie starts to give us some ideas about what they should look like.?
We shouldn?t get too excited yet, as this is still something of an aspiration rather than a signed-off reality, with Palmer admitting that Aston will have to carry on hitting its sales and revenue targets for the project to proceed to the engineerin...