Aston Martin's Special Vehicle Operations division has transformed the Vanquish into the Valen, a hyper-GT with a 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 tuned to 838 bhp and 738 lb-ft.The 0 to 62 mph sprint takes 3.1 seconds, matching the Porsche 911 GT3 RS, and Aston says no other front-engined road car on sale makes more power.Only 150 will be built, priced at 1.5 million pounds each before options, with personalization so extensive that no two customer cars are expected to look alike. There are people at Aston Martin whose entire job is to look at a perfectly good grand tourer and wonder what would happen if it were made angry. They work in the Special Vehicle Operations division, the same skunkworks that produced the Vulcan track car, the DBR22 speedster and the one-off Victor. Their latest answer arrived this week, and it is called the Valen. Underneath, it is a Vanquish. But describing the Valen as a Vanquish is like describing a wolf as a Labrador because they share a skeleton. The familiar 5.2-liter twin-turbo V12 has been wound up to 838 bhp and 738 lb-ft, figures that Aston claims make this the most powerful front-engined road car currently on sale. Within the company's own ranks, only the mid-engined Valhalla and Valkyrie sit above it. And the numbers translate: 0 to 62 mph is dispatched in 3.1 seconds, precisely the time a Porsche 911 GT3 RS needs. Inside Aston Martin's 1.5 Million Pound Vanquish-Based Bruiser You will not mistake it for the donor car. Design chief Marek Reichman describes the Valen as a deliberate departure, a chance to push a more extreme form language and surface treatment than Aston has attempted before, even though the silhouette nods to the original DBS and the Vantage that followed it. The signature grille motif now spreads across the entire nose, joined by slimline LED lights, a chunky ducktail spoiler and GT3-style carbon fiber aero, including a vast rear diffuser and downforce-generating side skirts. The exhaust is theater in itself: two outlets in the diffuser and two through its center, with the lower pair valved to open only in the raciest drive modes. The diet is just as serious. Carbon fiber, aluminum, titanium and magnesium strip up to 110 kg from the Vanquish, and an optional lightweight pack removes a further 16.9 kg through machined-aluminum suspension arms and knuckles plus titanium chassis bolts. The gearbox runs software lifted from the Vantage GT4 race car for harder shifts, the throttle sharpens in Sport and Sport+ and gains longer travel in Track mode for on-limit precision, and stiffer springs pair with quicker steering. Simon Newton, Aston's director of vehicle performance, frames it as unlocking the sporting potential the Vanquish always had. Each of the 150 cars costs 1.5 million pounds before the options begin, and they will begin, because Q by Aston Martin offers tinted exposed-carbon exteriors in any color the customer fancies, alongside 3D-printed detailing around the center console. Expect 150 entirely different Valens. That is rather the point.
