Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing have revealed the latest fruit their technical collaboration: the AM-RB 001 concept. The two-passenger hypercar is powered by naturally aspirated, midship-mounted V12 engine and built using lightweight materials. When roadgoing and track-only versions arrive in 2018, will have a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio.
Designed by a team led by Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, the hypercar includes Aston Martin brand identifiers in the form of the aluminum cant rails lozenge shaped rear lamps and a demarcation in the front above where the traditional grille would sit. That’s where the similarities end.
Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer and a successful F1 designer in his own right, was responsible for overseeing the engine development and aerodynamic optimization. The AM-RB 001’s suspension system and transmission is a clean-sheet design conceived by Newey and developed by Red Bull Advanced Technologies.
The task of engineering the AM-RB 001 will be shared between Q by Aston Martin Advanced and Red Bull Advanced Technologies, with production taking place at Aston Martin’s Gaydon facility.
“The shared challenge has been finding that magical tipping point where we achieve the most efficient engineering solutions and the most beautiful styling solutions without any compromises,” Reichman says of the collaboration. “My personal challenge has been expressing the AM-RB 001’s extraordinary performance and the unique way in which it delivers that performance. Its style reflects its revolutionary nature, while possessing the form and beauty that makes it unmistakably an Aston Martin.”
Built around a lightweight carbon fiber structure, the AM-RB 001 boasts aerodynamic elements to create high levels levels of downforce. Much of this downforce is generated through underfloor aerodynamics, leaving Reichman and his team to design the body and interior, which was not shown at the concept car’s unveiling.
The AM-RB 001 – its official name remains to be decided – will be built by David King and his team at Gaydon, in the purpose-built facility created for Aston Martin’s original hypercar, the One-77. More details of the AM-RB 001’s technical specification will be revealed closer to the car’s expected launch date, but it’s said to create 1 bhp per kilo of weight, which would definitely make it a contender in the hypercar world.
Reichman and Newey are working closely on the project to ensure the AM-RB 001 is a fusion of form and function: a car engineered to be useable and enjoyable as a road car but with the capability to perform like no road car before it on a racetrack.
For those who crave an even more intensely focused driving experience, a track-only AM-RB 001 is also in development, the projected performance of which is in line with that of today’s LMP1 Le Mans sports prototypes.
“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.” Newey says of the project. “I’ve always been adamant that the AM-RB 001 should be a true road car that’s also capable of extreme performance on track, and this means it really has to be a car of two characters. That’s the secret we’re trying to put into this car – the technology that allows it to be docile and comfortable, but with immense outright capabilities.”
Between 99 and 150 road cars and 25 track-only versions of the AM-RB 001 will be built, with first deliveries commencing in 2018. Aston Martin has already received upwards of 300 requests, so there will likely be many disappointed prospective buyers.
The car is expected to cost between £2m and £3m (roughly $2.6m to $3.8m at today’s exchange rate).
