Valhalla and the essence of form

Departure at eight point zero zero. Yes, we have to be that precise. The next number sequence is: 1-8-2-7-4-5-3-6, which is Aston Martin's precise racing description of the firing order of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 in its road-legal Valhalla. It is the first mid-engine sports car with a plug-in hybrid powertrain in the company's history; it delivers 1,079 hp and 1,100 Newton metres of torque. Zero to one hundred in 2.5 seconds. Top speed: 350 km/h.

If you're wondering how you can start an article about a beautiful Aston Martin in such a brutally technical way, you haven't recognised the signs of the times. It was in 2018 when Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman declared at the launch event of the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera that the era of the British sports car parody "function-follows-form" - the exact opposite of the racing car ideal - was now finally over. With the V12 front-mid engine, Aston Martin entered the serious performance league, where form is accountable to function. It is all the more remarkable that Aston Martin managed to maintain its high aesthetic standards.

This all culminated in the Valkyrie - and the Valhalla is the road-going derivative. It is both a racing car and an Aston Martin. In other words: tough aerodynamics and aesthetic sculpture. They have actually managed to combine the two - recognisable by the painted upper part (sculpture) and the lower part made of freely visible aerodynamics. And that's why we can't just quote any random person at this point who likes to devote himself to beautiful things; no, it has to be a fundamental personality. Immanuel Kant and his Critique of Judgement: "... in all beautiful art, the essence is in the form ..." Amen.

But now. Open the door. Normally, getting into a carbon monocoque requires acrobatic feats. Keyword: contortionist. The Aston Martin Valhalla is different. These are forward-swinging butterfly doors (dihedral doors). The engineers and designers have designed the chassis and the doors in such a way that getting in is almost too easy. Do you remember those stuffed lollipop bags from your student days? Just drop them in? Something like that. Pulling the door shut - that requires strength.

Then the seating position! Derived from racing, the seat is actually lower than the pedals; in other words, the rider's hips are below the feet. This may be written twice: Derived from racing, the seat is actually lower than the pedals; in other words, the rider's hips are below the feet.

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Start. The lightness, the dance, the drama. Sound familiar to you? "Float like a butterfly - and sting like a bee." That's Muhammad Ali. And that means driving an Aston Martin Valhalla. The Valhalla has its very own style. It is a natural sports car. Incredibly fast, agile, precise.

This Aston Martin has only the next bend in mind, the next acceleration, the next hard braking. It stoically endures the boulevardesque stroll, the look-at-me glide. He doesn't see the point. This completely controlled, self-contained Aston Martin is fantastic - even if it is forced to just roll along. It actually wants something completely different.

If the Aston Martin Valhalla were a Hollywood product, it would be referred to as method performing, in reference to the method acting cultivated by Heath Ledger as the Joker and, before that, Al Pacino as Colonel Frank Slade in The Scent of Women. Valhalla doesn't just play the road-legal racing car. It is it. 

Then the next speed trap. And suddenly a juicy shot of adrenaline is added to the tight beat of the pulse. The voices of the humanists are already knocking. If they have their way, we are currently living in a very important time of change in the history of mankind. And despite all the enthusiasm for technological developments, our thinking needs to change. Continuous development is no longer enough; we need to make leaps and bounds. This is important in order to find new ideas and paths for our lives in general. At the wheel of the Valhalla, it's more like: "Yes, yes, aha ... interesting ... Make jumps? No problem." At this point, the full rev range - 6,700 revs. There are no taboos, there are only imaginary and real taboos.