Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001 hypercar revealed

The Aston Martin that Red Bull’s Adrian Newey built: meet the new F1 car for the road

Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001Aston Martin and Red Bull Racing have revealed the stunning new AM-RB 001, the radical hypercar developed by the two brands and led by star F1 genius Adrian Newey, Aston Martin designer Marek Reichman and engineering ace David King. The new Aston Martin Red Bull could just be the F1 car for the road to outdo every other car ever created…

‘The like of which has never been seen before’Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Aston Martin and Red Bull say the AM-RB 001 (that’s currently a codename: the real name will follow) is ground-breaking, ambitious, uncompromising and wholly extraordinary. Red Bull has won multiple F1 titles and Adrian Newey has won many, many more on top: by collaborating with Aston Martin, he’s now able to turn his brilliance to road cars. The rest of the supercar world is shuffling uncomfortably…

What is the Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001?Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

The new Aston Martin Red Bull hypercar is a proper road-going machine. A maximum 150 will be built, with 25 more track-only super-specials. Purists, rejoice: it will have a mid-mounted non-turbo V12 engine that revs to the heavens and, although a power figure hasn’t been revealed, the AM-RB 001 will have, like the Koenigsegg One:1, a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio – that’s 1 hp per kilo of weight.

Road car with F1-like downforceAston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Described as having “unprecedented levels of downforce in a road-legal car”, the AM-RB 001 will, as you’d expect of an Adrian Newey-engineered car, further blur the dividing line between road car and racing car. The carbon fibre car’s aero secrets are mainly beneath the surface too, so Reichman’s been able to design a pure body shape without humungous wings and spoilers.

Yes, it really is a road-going Aston MartinAston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Looking truly unique, space-age and 22nd century, the incredible shape of the Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001 makes every other hypercar to date seem old-fashioned and prosaic. It’s more Batmobile than road car, with designer Reichman admitting “there has never been an Aston Martin – or any car, actually – quite like the AM-RB 001”.

‘A truly remarkable project’Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Aston Martin CEO Dr Andy Palmer is in no doubt as to the historical significance of the new Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001. “As the project gathers pace it’s clear the end result will be a truly history-making hypercar that sets incredible new benchmarks for packaging, efficiency and performance, an achievement that elevates Aston Martin to the very highest level.

The practical Red Bull F1 car for the roadAston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

It pushes performance boundaries endlessly, but Aston Martin and Red Bull insist the AM-RB 001 will also be a perfectly usable, practical and enjoyable road car. Just one that performs on the track like no other road car up to now. The two firms promise a roomy two-seat cabin, plentiful comfort and the sort of packaging brilliance more mundane A-to-B runabouts would be proud of. Newey has a reputation for innovations like this in his F1 cars: the AM-RB 001 will be the first road car ever to benefit from it.

Ingenious suspension, aerodynamics, gearboxAston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Adrian Newey will also apply his F1 nous – brilliance that’s made him the most successful designer the sport has ever seen – to give the Aston Martin Red Bull innovative new suspension, radical aerodynamics and a clean-sheet transmission that’s been conceived and engineered by the far-sighted Red Bull Advanced Technologies department.

Adrian Newey’s first-ever road carAston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

“I’ve long harboured the desire to design a road car,” says Red Bull’s Adrian Newey. His intention is to create a car of two characters – indeed, he says that’s the secret they’re trying to put into the AM-RB 001: “The technology that allows it to be docile and comfortable, but with immense outright capabilities.” Be in no doubt, the Adrian Newey road car is going to be extraordinary…

The tech nuances: TBC…Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Today, Aston Martin and Red Bull are revealing the shape of the new hypercar, whose AM-RB 001 title is currently a codename. All the tech details underpinning it will be revealed in due course: for now, savour the pure and breathtaking dramatic form that blends Aston Martin tradition in a quite incredible futuristic form.

Why has Red Bull partnered with Aston Martin?Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

So why has Red Bull teamed up with Aston Martin to create its first ever road car? Because Newey reckoned it was the best way to make the project work: Red Bull would do all the clever hypercar engineered with Aston Martin helping it turn this into a beautiful, fast and comfortable GT car.

What next? How much will it cost?Aston Martin Red Bull AM-RB 001

Aston Martin will make the AM-RB 001 at its Gaydon facility, in the same area used to produce the One-77. It will produce between 99 and 150 of the road-going Red Bull, with 25 track-only models on top. First deliveries will start from 2018: the price has not and will not be disclosed, but a guess of around £2 million and £3 million is a safe estimate…

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Motoring Research team
Motoring Research team
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