- 5/10/2025
Hypercars are, more than ever, expensive and rare pieces of unobtanium. So Top Gear took the Aston Martin Valhalla to the Bicester Motion Sunday Scramble, to get the British public up close and personal with this new 1064bhp, £875k, plug-in hybrid hypercar. Here’s what they thought…
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MotorTranscript
00:00This is the new Aston Martin Valhalla meeting the great British petrolhead public for the
00:05very first time and I want to know what everyone thinks about new hybrid hypercars.
00:12Yup, we'll be going full old school motor show and putting people on the spot to ask their
00:17thoughts. Aggressive. Majestic. 10 out of 10 for me. As for the Valhalla, it's the son of Valkyrie,
00:24but much more sensible than its mad dad. This plug-in V8 hybrid generates 1064 horsepower and
00:32costs 857 grand, a bargain compared to the McLaren W1 and Ferrari F80. With only 999 to be made,
00:42it's very rare to get up close and personal, but I've brought one along for the Bista Scramble car
00:50meet. So question one is what do people think of the way it looks? I think it's pretty stunning if
00:55you look at some of the modern supercars that are around at the moment. I think it's different and
00:59original, but it's got some nice Aston Martin queues. I think for a road car, it looks absolutely stunning.
01:04The spec is absolutely beautiful. I love the paint, the interior of the colour of the blue is absolutely
01:08amazing. Just absolutely love it. I think it's really like futuristic and it looks really cool.
01:13It's not too over complicated. A lot of the modern hypercars go a bit crazy with the aero flicks,
01:18but this is quite a good liquor. I love the mix of modern and classic. So they've kept smooth lines
01:24on the front and then the back is just all about performance. It's beautiful. Yeah, absolutely
01:29gorgeous. Are you saying that because your husband works for Aston Martin? Maybe. I like the fact that
01:36the grille design is very similar to older Aston Martins and also some of the current line-up as well.
01:41I could tell it wasn't a Valkyrie. It definitely looks much cleaner, a little bit less aggressive,
01:45but still looks really good, really clean. You know, I think it looks a little bit like the Valkyrie.
01:50I think Merrick Reichman and his team did a good job there, originally designed by Adrian Newey and
01:56and then cues from the Valkyrie. So the looks, 10 out of 10 for me. It seems everyone was in love
02:02with the Valhalla's bodywork. Would anyone offer a dissenting opinion? The thing is, this kind of car for me
02:08seems like it's got a bit of a split personality because you've got the Valkyrie that lives at the top of the
02:13range, you know, the Uber excess, track craziness, and then you've got Aston's road cars. I'm not
02:17sure this knows where it sits on that spectrum. Interesting. What about you? I think it's just
02:21gorgeous, to be honest. I think the way that Aston Martin is taking that design language now with
02:25the new Vantage, the DB12 and everything, I just think it's beautiful, personally. I like the big scoop
02:31at the top. It's good. It's been a long time since we saw, you know, rear-engined Aston supercar
02:37kind of design. So, you know, I think it looks incredible. I think it looks amazing. The curves,
02:43the roof scoop, I think a brilliant looking car. For 2025, it's, I think they've done well.
02:49Pretty much universal praise for the Valhalla's looks then. Just going to interrupt the chat about
02:55one British hypercar for another. The McMurtry Spearlings just blasted the top gear lap record,
03:01so we're going to start it up and see what everyone thinks of that.
03:24Polite reserved applause for 2,000 kilograms of downforce there. The McMurtry and the Valhalla
03:30were just two of the special guest cars we had on top gear stand at the Bista Motion Sunday Scramble.
03:38This is one of Britain's very best car meets. Set among the perfectly preserved workshops of an
03:44old RAF base, you can mingle with some of the fastest, rarest and most beautiful cars in motoring
03:50history with a burger and a cup of tea. Dust off the shoulder cams, we're going full retro reporter.
03:57Citroen SM with the single spoke steering wheel.
04:03Renault Spider on a Renault Spider. A Le Mans winning Bentley prototype. A lifted Porsche 914
04:10with matching speed boat. Somewhere behind me, a Jaguar XJR 15.
04:15The very latest Morgan and a very low riding Mercedes. Absolute spec goals F355. The stripe
04:29says it's an RS 4 litre and so does the sticker. 22 inch blue pinstripe wheels on a Bentayga.
04:38Electric converted Mini, Volkswagen Carman gear, old Land Rovers and original Beetle.
04:49911 Sport classic with exhaust interiors in white. Land Rover Defender without anti-theft protection
04:57measures. The world's biggest collection of unrusted Lancia Monte Carlos. Including this original
05:11pre-production car seen in motor shows in the 70s. With all those mouth-watering retro heroes to drool over,
05:22what would the Bicester faithful think to the Valhalla's new school hybrid heart?
05:27I love it when they use it for performance. So, you know, you read this stuff about
05:32torque filling and all the rest. Bring it on. Might as well make it faster if you can, right?
05:38I think manufacturers like Aston Martin probably haven't got a lot of choice because there's so
05:42many markets around the world where the emissions regulations are so tough. But on the other hand,
05:47they need to appeal to petrol heads. So probably hybrid's the best way to go.
05:52I think it's the way forward. That's the way the world's going. A hybrid made it to a V10,
05:56V12 is I think the ideal combination. But not a twin turbo V8 like this. No, maybe not.
06:03I don't really like the fact that it doesn't make as much noise as like the petrol cars. I don't think
06:08it's as cool in that sort of way. Hybrid high performance better than all electric high
06:13performance, right? So that's better. And it all depends on the combination of internal combustion
06:21engine to electric motor. So I think the new Porsche hybrids, for example, I haven't driven one,
06:27but from what I read and hear, great, because it's still more ICE than it is electric power.
06:35And I think the further you go to electric and less ICE, for me, the worse off you are.
06:40One thing I would say about this car in particular is it's sort of overshadowed by the Valkyrie,
06:45because that is yet again another hybrid car, but that has the V12, where I can't remember which
06:50engine this car has, but... This is a V8? Yeah, isn't it? Yes. So it's still a good engine,
06:55but in comparison to the Valkyrie, probably a bit overshadowed. I'm more of a naturally aspirated
06:59engine type of person. But, you know, if there's a bit of extra 300 brake horsepower, you can get
07:05out of, you know, a hybrid motor and makes it a bit more exciting. Well, not a bit more exciting, but it's
07:10different, you know. This is only 250 horsepower more. Is that enough for you?
07:15Yeah, that probably might do. Yeah, it should do. Should do. So for me, it depends how it's deployed.
07:20You know, so us growing up, it was the original hybrid hypercars were the original Holy Trinity,
07:24right? And they were using that as a way to get more performance out of the car. Nowadays,
07:28you know, there's other reasons why cars go down the hybrid route, fuel efficiency, better economy,
07:33greenwashing. So for me, it really depends on how it's deployed. For me, both of us,
07:37actually, we're more old school car people. So we like the drama and the character. It's not to
07:40say that can't happen with hybrid, but the way that hybrid is being deployed nowadays,
07:43I think it does take away some of that purity from the car.
07:46You agree on hybrids? I think so. Yeah, like you say,
07:48it's how it's deployed. I think having that extra boost and that kick coming out,
07:53so you don't get the delays and things is great. But you do, yeah, it's, I don't want to sound like
07:57everyone else, but you do lose that, like, just that thrill with the roar of the engines,
08:02but hybrids, then you'll at least get the balance. So, yeah.
08:05A cautious thumbs up for hybrid hypercars then,
08:09but not as overwhelmingly positive as the consensus on the styling.
08:13Did that stop the Valhalla deserving a place in everyone's dream garage?
08:19If it's a dream lottery garage, probably, yeah. I think it's a kind of a bucket list car,
08:24something unique. Not everyone knows what it is, but I mean, driving down the road,
08:28I think it'll be a good one. 100% yes. I think the favourite at the moment is Valkyrie,
08:34and this is essentially son of Valkyrie. So, yeah, you could see the resemblance between them
08:41very easily. Absolutely. Yeah. But I do, I also like the Valkyrie as well. Like, the Valkyrie is,
08:48because that's naturally aspirated, high revving, crazy, crazy car, but this is, I love it. It's
08:53beautiful. It would definitely make the garage. I'd say probably not, and I think I'd have
08:58to replace it with the Valkyrie. It'd be the Valkyrie. Go for the big daddy. Definitely.
09:04Would it be the number one? It would be in the dream garage. I love the classic looks on the front.
09:10You can tell it's Adrian Yui if you look at the teeth on the floor, and you just know this thing's
09:15going to shift. I'd certainly take one, but I don't know if it'd make it in a top three. Probably not.
09:22I'd say a Valkyrie's probably up there, but I'm more into probably like a Gordon Murray T50,
09:29or something along those lines. Something a bit more analogue, because I would say it's probably
09:32a bit too computerised. Nice down-to-earth taste. Yeah, very good. No. So, what would?
09:38Probably a GT500 Ford Mustang 69. Honestly, no, because I like the older stuff.
09:45An older DB4 GT probably would work for me better, but if I was in the market for a modern supercar,
09:52and I had the money, yeah, I think it works fantastically. So, yeah, it's got to be pretty up there.
09:57It all depends on the price. You know, there's a thing about getting good value,
10:03so I don't know how much that would be. It's £875,000. Yeah, so, look, if I get another job,
10:12maybe. Yeah, probably. I like it. I like it a lot. What would you have alongside it to complement it?
10:19Uh, ooh, a Jesco and a LFA, 100%. I don't know, anything from like old Porsches to BMWs,
10:27or like M3 CSL, that's in there. Virtual Argo, LP670-4 SV. The E60 M5, the V10 one, that's in there.
10:38Series 1 release. Probably a 997.2 GT3 RS. And I'd have a Bugatti. And then I'd have obscure stuff,
10:45like, at the moment, I've been really looking at Fiat Coupe 20-valve turbos. Oh, excellent.
10:50As a random one. Very nice 911 ST parked over there that I wouldn't mind taking to the Nürburgring
10:57and doing a few laps on at some point. I've always wanted like a Porsche GT3 RS,
11:03and like to modify it and everything, and like to make it my own kind of thing. Injection, electronic.
11:15Whoops. Sorry about that. No one asked me about my dream garage. Anyway, after meeting the Valhalla,
11:23could the great British public sum up Aston Martin's new supercar in one word?
11:29Stunning. Stunning. Stunning. Cool. Insane. It's magnificent.
11:33Extreme. Impressive. Beautiful. Sleek. Fantastic. Cool. Shining. Epic.
11:40Interesting. Majestic. Extraordinary. Aggressive. Theater.
11:46That's not a word. Beautiful. Well, I've been pretty surprised at the positivity
11:51towards the Valhalla. According to the internet, I thought everyone hated hybrid hypercars.
11:55Anyway, it's been brilliant to have a look around. Bist to scramble. Second best thing to do with a
11:59sundae after a roast dinner. So come on down next time. Tell Top Gear your opinions. We'll see you here soon.
12:09Bye.
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