A radical new track focused and limited edition hypercar with a massive newly designed V12 engine has been unveiled by British luxury carmaker Aston Martin.

Conceived in conjunction with the F1 Red Bull Racing team, the ground-breaking hypercar has been codenamed AM-RB 001.

Likely set you back by around $2.6 million, the car will hit the roads in 2018 and be limited to a run of no more than 150 in addition to 25 track-only versions.

The three men charged with realising this vision are Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer and the world’s most successful F1 designer, Marek Reichman, Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer and David King, VP and Chief Special Operations Officer. 

The AM-RB 001 will be engineered to be entirely useable and enjoyable as a road car, but with the capability to perform like no road car before it on a race track, Aston Martin says. 

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.

Built around a lightweight carbon fibre structure, the AM-RB 001 boasts truly radical aerodynamics for unprecedented levels of downforce in a road-legal car. Thanks to the genius of Newey’s design much of this downforce is generated through underfloor aerodynamics, leaving Reichman free to craft a pure yet breathtaking dramatic form that elegantly expresses both the AM-RB 001’s cutting-edge dynamism and the unmistakable essence of Aston Martin. 

The AM-RB 001 will be built at Gaydon, in the purpose-built facility created for Aston Martin’s original hypercar, the One-77. 

At its heart is a new, mid-mounted, high-revving, naturally aspirated V12 engine with the potency to achieve a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio; 1 bhp per kilo of weight. 

To cope with the extreme aerodynamic loadings at high speeds yet deliver the on-road usability and comfort, the hypercar’s suspension system will feature innovative technology and employ principles honed by Newey over his thirty-year career. Likewise, the transmission is a clean-sheet design conceived by Newey and developed by Red Bull Advanced Technologies. 

The AM-RB 001 to be extremely light and compact, yet offer genuine comfort and space for driver and passenger and house a V12 engine.

King comments: “The AM-RB 001 is a dream - a true once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Of course it’s a huge engineering challenge, too, but the game-changing objectives of this programme have a uniquely energising effect on everyone involved. We have world-class people and facilities at Gaydon. We’re all motivated to achieve great things and take Aston Martin to the absolute pinnacle of road car performance”.

Dr Andy Palmer, Aston Martin President and CEO, commented: “The AM-RB 001 is a truly remarkable project and something of which I’m extremely proud. To have Aston Martin working alongside Adrian Newey, Red Bull Racing and the invaluable assistance of project partner AF Racing AG is an extraordinary creative collaboration. One that unites the very best of road and race car thinking. As the project gathers pace its clear the end result will be a truly history-making hypercar that sets incredible new benchmarks for packaging, efficiency and performance and an achievement that elevates Aston Martin to the very highest level”.  

The task of engineering the AM-RB 001 will be shared between Q by Aston Martin Advanced and Red Bull Advanced Technologies. Total volume will be between 99 and 150 road cars inclusive of all remaining prototypes and 25 track-only versions, with first deliveries commencing in 2018.