Aston Martin Valkyrie LM for $6.5 Million - Who Is This Car For

Imagine: you buy a hypercar. Parts? Removed. Power? Reduced. Price? Soared to $6.5 million (and that's before taxes!). Welcome to the irrational world of the Aston Martin Valkyrie LM – a car that proves: in the major league, authenticity costs more than the numbers on the dynamometer!

Aston Martin has already turned its crazy 'Valkyrie' into a purebred racing monster for the '24 Hours of Le Mans'. It also created for 40 lucky individuals (and multimillionaires) its track copy – the Valkyrie AMR Pro, also stripped of the hybrid system, just like the racing car. But surprise! The brand now throws another track version on the table. And this is, attention, the closest possible copy of that very car THAT IS FIGHTING TO WIN LE MANS RIGHT NOW! Price tag? A modest $6.5 million before taxes. Pocket money, no less.

Meet the Valkyrie LM

Essentially, this is a mechanical clone of the Aston Martin racing prototype. Under the hood (or rather, behind the driver's back) lies the same naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 from Cosworth, spinning up to 8400 rpm and delivering 697 'horses'. Connoisseurs will cynically note: the road version of the 'Valkyrie' had an engine that revved up to 11000 rpm and produced 1140 horsepower! But stop: the LM is a racing car according to the 'Le Mans Hypercar' regulations, where power is artificially limited. The advantages? The LM can consume different fuels (the racing car is not so lenient), and it has had ballast and electronic restrictions, imposed by the rules, removed. Weight? Just 1030 kg (2270 pounds) compared to ~1360 kg (3000 pounds) for the road version! All the power (well, 697 hp) goes to the rear wheels via a 7-speed sequential transmission.

"But wait!", the attentive reader will exclaim. "What about the Valkyrie AMR Pro? It's more powerful (around 1000 hp!), lighter and $2 million CHEAPER! Shouldn't it be faster?" Logically. Surely, the AMR Pro indeed tears up the stopwatches more fiercely. However, as Adrian Hallmark, CEO of Aston Martin, philosophically put it, the LM is created for the "purest and most authentic sense of endurance racing". Track monsters have always been faster than regulated racing cars – remember the Ferrari FXX. Looking for a 'benefit' or 'value for money' here? Ha-ha, no. But you do get an exact copy of the Le Mans prototype that you can park in your garage! (A nod to Ferrari, which does not allow 499P Modificata owners to keep the cars at home).

The similarity to the racing car is meticulous:

• Suspension: fully racing – double wishbones front and back, torsion bars with pushrods, adjustable shock absorbers (side and central).
• Safety: FIA-level fuel system, racing belts and fire extinguishing system – get ready to feel like a WEC driver, not a rich guy on track day.

Usually, by the time such cars are announced, all 10 copies are already distributed among well-known oligarchs. But Aston Martin sensationally told The Drive: the Valkyrie LM is NOT SOLD yet! Yes, you read that correctly. 10 pieces are waiting for their owners. Price? Approximately the same $6.5 million – a whole $2 million more expensive than the more powerful AMR Pro. What are we paying for?

'Oligarch on the track' package:

1. VIP survival course: Aston Martin will organize for you (if you suddenly lack a license) training and obtaining a racing category at Silverstone.
2. A year of personal servitude: The brand's instructors and engineers will chase you for a whole year around different tracks of the planet. Their task – to hone your piloting skills and tune the LM precisely to your driving style. All the thrill of motorsport – without the risk of losing your job due to poor performance.

Verdict

Yes, for this money you can buy a small island or a couple of football clubs. Yes, the AMR Pro is more powerful and cheaper. But the Valkyrie LM is a ticket to the most elite club in the world: owners of real, race fuel-smelling (and victory-smelling!) cars of Le Mans. This is not just a car. It's an artifact. A status you can't buy for ordinary millions. Only for crazy ones.

As they say… Being very, very rich is nice. And for us mere mortals, we can only drool over the photos and dream of that racing V12 smell that will never fill our garage.