AM-RB 001 is the brainchild of Adrian Newey.
By Dileep Thekkethil
If Aston Martin Lagoda’s ambitious project to build the world’s fastest car along with the racing team Red Bull materialize, it could mean a big challenge to the supercar monopoly of Bugatti and Ferrari – the two favorites of the super-rich.
According to a press release by Aston Martin, they have chalked down a design with the assistance of Red Bull for a project codenamed AM-RB 001, which will build the world’s fastest and most ergonomically designed supercar.
Even though the company has revealed few specifications, by large, the detailed specification of the model has been kept confidential.
The 007 James Bond car makers require the expertise of Red Bull to create a hypercar model that can be put alongside with top rival car manufacturers like Ferrari, Lamborghini, and McLaren, whose cars make roads go on fire.
On the other hand, Red Bull, the Austrian Formula One racing team was looking for an avenue into the production of road cars like its competitors Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG.
AM-RB 001 is the brainchild of Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer and the world’s most successful F1TM designer, and Marek Reichman, Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer and David King, VP, and Chief Special Operations Officer.
The confluence of the two stalwarts have molded a hypercar that is estimated to cost around $2.8 million-plus. The only proposition that Aston Martin has made is that the two-seat, mid-engine hypercar will be as fast as a Formula 1 race car or Le Mans prototype.
Aston Martin’s earlier model, Vulcan was a track-only model but this time around the company has raised the bars by announcing that the new model will have both street-legal and track-only versions and will fire its engines by 2018.
“I’ve always been adamant that the AM-RB 001 should be a true road car that’s also capable of extreme performance on the track, and this means it really has to be a car of two characters,” said Adrian Newey.
The hypercar model has a naturally inspired V12 engine coupled with the combustion system assisted with hybrid-electric assistance, just like what they do it in F1 racing.
The AM-RB 001 will feature a 1:1 horsepower to weight (in kilograms) ratio, giving it about 1 horsepower for every 2.2 lbs.
It is the craftsmanship of the two revered motor engineers that has made AM-RB 001 an almost impossible car to chase down. The car has been designed by Adrian Newey in such a way that much of its downforce is generated through underfloor aerodynamics, giving Reichman all options to cleave a breathtaking and elegant car with a chiseled design that speaks aloud what Aston Martin has stood for ever since its humble beginning.
Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, while talking about AM-RB 001 project said, “I’ve long harbored the desire to design a road car. The formation of Red Bull Advanced Technologies brought me a step closer to realizing that ambition, but I believed we should work with an automotive manufacturer. Aston Martin was at the top of my list. The synergy between Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin is clear.”
He added: “I knew Red Bull Racing had the ability to handle the pure performance aspects, but Aston Martin’s experience of making beautiful, fast and comfortable GT cars is of great benefit to the project.”
Marek Reichman said, “Working so closely alongside Adrian and an organization like Red Bull Racing is a fabulous experience. By definition, the objectives we’ve set for the car ensures there has never been an Aston Martin – or any car, actually – quite like the AM-RB 001.”
The production of AM-RB 001 is expected to commence at Aston Martin’s Gaydon facility soon after the on-going Innovation Partnership of the two companies. The makers of Bond cars are expecting to piece together 99 to 150 models of the new speed defying car.