You don’t picture an Aston Martin owner drinking a Red Bull. Maybe Rüdesheimer Apostelwein ’27 or 30-year-old Macallan is a better fit, but not a high-octane energy drink in an aluminum can.
But, Red Bull and Aston Martin get along just fine when you swap out the aluminum for carbon fiber and the energy drink for high-octane fuel. Q by Aston Martin Advanced (the automaker’s cutting edge R&D division) and Red Bull Advanced Technologies (the experts behind the brand’s F1 team), announced a partnership to build the AM-RB 001 hypercar. The end result promises to be four-wheeled soft pornography available to a select few and to be envied by mere commoner gearheads.
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Resembling a Le Mans class racer more than anything in the easily distinguishable Aston Martin family of performance vehicles, the AM-RB 001 promises to be a road-going supercar unique in the automotive industry. The project leaders are Adrian Newey (Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer), Marek Reichman (Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer) and David King (Aston Martin VP and Chief Special Operations Officer).
Two versions of the AM-RB 001 will be built for delivery in 2018. One will be road legal but track worth, while the other will only exist for track driving. In keeping with modern race technology, the AM-RB 001 will be built with a lightweight carbon fiber structure and highly refined aerodynamics. Aston Martin will build in a new, mid-mounted, naturally aspirated V12 engine. The car’s suspension and transmission will be designed and built only for the AM-RB 001.
A minor quibble? How about a proper name, guys? Something that looks this unimaginably fast deserves to be christened with a bottle champagne rendered from grapes fertilized by unicorn tears and named something that doesn’t sound like a small part for a kitchenette washer/dryer. You made a car that looks to be the stuff of legends and fantasy. Why not let adolescent boys around the world worship a poster or laptop wallpaper featuring this car above some flashy font screaming, “The Thracian,” “The Veneris” or “The Semprini.”
The AM-RB 001 is a name few will remember. Then again, since Aston Martin and Red Bull are only building at most 175 cars between track and road versions for buyers who will no doubt pre-buy sight and price unseen, how many need to remember?
