► Radical design for limited-edition V12 Valen
► Lighter and more powerful than the Vanquish
► Set to be priced at around £1.5m

What happens when you cross the sleek, flowing form of an Aston Martin Vanquish with the amped up angular lines of an American muscle car? Well, it would probably come out looking something like this – the limited edition Valen.

Made by Aston’s bespoke service (Q by Aston Martin), the Valen is based on a Vanquish but comes with completely overhauled bodywork, aero and interior – as well as significant weight-saving over the base car.

It’s also the most powerful front-end production model in the brand’s history, with a slight retune over the Vanquish meaning 0-62mph in just 3.1 seconds. Keep reading to find out more about what is arguably Aston Martin’s most striking car of the decade.

So what’s new?

Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, acknowledges that the Valen (pronounced Vay-len) is ‘a significant departure from what has gone before’ and, clearly, he’s not wrong.

Starting at the front, there’s the deeply recessed slimline headlamps hooded beneath the leading edge of the bonnet. Also see the sharply angled radiator aperture, mesh grille and front splitter. Eyes up towards the large, single top vent on the bonnet and it’s less James Bond, more Bullitt.

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Move along the side and you’ll spot the – wait for it – saw tooth vortex generators on the sill. Used to pull high-speed airflow from underneath the car (reducing lift and increasing downforce) they have purpose as well as form. As do the new lightweight magnesium wheels (21 inches) fitted with Pirelli P Zero R tyres as standard.

Part of a significant weight-saving program, the wheels – together with extensive use of carbon fibre, aluminium, titanium and an optional lightweight pack – help shave off up to 110kg, meaning the Valen’s kerb weight should be less than 1.8 tonnes.

Impressed? Wait until you see the rear end… Rather than the usual fixed rear window, there’s a solid tailgate (with a camera for a rear-view mirror) complete with wing, full-width light bar and, below, two decks of double exhausts. It is, arguably, the most dramatic angle of the car.

Speaking of angle, the colour of the Valen we saw changes depending on the light and how you look at it. The paint shade is called Satin Andromeda Red and it’s been developed with Aston’s Q Ultra division. Mind you, we reckon some customers will elect to leave the car unpainted owing to the full carbon fibre body underneath. Should you want a mix of the two, said carbon is also available with a coloured tint if that’s your thing.

What about inside?

Enter the cabin and you’ll see AM’s efforts to ‘represent lightweight in a visual form’. Thankfully, that means more than simply drilling holes into existing components. There’s a slimmer centre console, angled switch panel from the Valhalla and either new Sports Seats (like you can see in the pics) or lightweight carbon fibre alternatives. Tactile 3D-printed components are also plentiful throughout.

Buyers can choose between various interior trim combinations with the initial choice being between semi-aniline leather and alcantara or just the former. Then, there’s five material splits (monotone, duotone, light duotone, tritone and drive focused).

Has it still got the Vanquish V12?

Under the bonnet, the engine is the same 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 as the Vanquish but there’s been a small power bump up to 838bhp, with torque remaining at 1000Nm. Top speed is also still 214mph.

Elsewhere, a new lightweight titanium exhaust system has been added to improve the already highly respectable V12 rumble. Featuring micro mufflers (Aston reckons they keep the sound optimum without breaching noise limits), the upper exhausts are always open while the lower pair are valved depending on drive mode.

As for the chassis, Aston’s kept the same hardware components as the Vanquish. So Bilstein DTX semi-active dampers, double wishbone at the front, multi-link at the rear and an e-diff. However, because of the reduced weight and a desire to make Valen more focused, there have been changes to the setup and software.

For example, lateral stiffness has been upped, there’s reduced roll and pitch, plus the steering tune is supposed to be more direct.

Want one? You’ll need to be quick. Units are limited to 150 while the price tag is, we understand, going to be in the region of £1.5m. That’s several hundred thousand more than a Valhalla and almost five times the price of the Vanquish it’s based on. Let us know which you would rather have in the comments!