Aston Martin to build 'groundbreaking' road car

Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing have joined forces for a "next generation" project to build a "groundbreaking" hypercar.

Codenamed AM-RB 001, the project will see Adrian Newey, the designer of ten championship winning Formula 1 cars, and Aston Martin chief creative officer Marek Reichmann working together.

According to Autocar, who first caught wind of the project last summer, insiders say it will be "superior in acceleration, top speed and circuit performance to any road car ever made, and likely to be superior to all but the most focused race cars". Aston Martin claims the car will lap Silverstone faster than today's crop of F1 vehicles, despite being a road car.

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The magazine adds that the car is being created in a dedicated design studio at Aston Martin's Gaydon headquarters, in Warwickshire, and that around 99 units will be made by the manufacturer's "Q" division, with a price tag of between £2-3 million. First deliveries should be in 2018 and owners of Aston Martin's Vulcan track car will get first dibs.

Official details are still scarce. It's thought the car it will be mid-engined and Top Gear adds that a hybrid powertrain is "surely" under consideration, possibly using the 7.0-litre V12 from the Vulcan as a starting point.

Evo adds that given the focus on F1 technology, both turbocharging and hybrid power must be on the cards, with the 5.2-litre V12 slotted into the firm's new DB11 a likely donor.

It adds that the AM-RB 001 is "one of the most intriguing hypercar projects ever undertaken". Given that F1 tech transitioning to road cars is "fairly rare", despite manufacturers' claims, having a name like Newey's on the project is tantalising.

The styling should also be incredible. The teaser image suggests a car reminiscent of vehicles such as the Auto Union Type C Streamline, reckons the magazine, although Auto Express expects something resembling an LMP1 for the road – the focus being on lap times rather than an attempt to top the likes of the Bugatti Chiron in speed.