Gordon Ramsay was recently spotted rocking up to a dinner date in his newly-acquired Aston Martin Valour.
Not only is the Valour an exceptionally rare beast, it carries a pretty hefty price tag.
The iconic chef was seen parking the limited-edition motor outside the Connaught hotel in London’s Mayfair, UK, before heading inside to meet wife, Tana.
Apparently, Gordon Ramsay only took delivery of his Aston Martin Valour around a week ago, and it’s already catching people’s eye.
It’s worth bearing in mind Ramsay’s car collection also includes a highly luxurious $2m Ferrari.
The Hell’s Kitchen host was seen slowly making his way through open-mouthed pedestrians angling to get a snap of his supercar.
And rightly so, with the car being built to celebrate 110 years of Aston Martin and one of only 110 made.
The British luxury automaker has a history of producing superlative front-engined sports cars.
Big boots to fill, some may say, but initial impressions suggest the Aston Martin Valour ticks the right boxes.
For starters, it features a bespoke six-speed manual transmission.
Apparently, it’s the only front-engined V12 sports car available with a manual transmission.
Clearly, Aston Martin has been thinking of the purists.
Then there’s its unmistakable looks, which draw inspiration from several iconic Astons.
We’re talking the original V8 Vantage, and the Vantage-based RHAM/1 ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer from 1980.
There’s hints of the twin supercharged V600 Vantage in there, too, as well as touches of the One77 supercar, and even the one-off Victor.
The fact the Valour is so rare suggests it will be amongst the most collectable of all Aston Martins.
Shame they’ve already sold out, but if you were lucky enough to get your hands on one, you’ve been treated to a mouth-watering end-of-era specification.
For the first time ever, the automaker has mated its epic twin-turbocharged 5.2-liter V12 to a bespoke six-speed manual transmission.
You also get a bespoke suspension, with adaptive dampers, springs and anti-roll bars all honed specifically to the car.
Add to that the Valour’s custom body structure, which features front and rear shear panels, rear suspension tower strut braces, and fuel tank bracing.
It even comes with standard-fit carbon ceramic brakes which sit behind 21-inch lightweight forged ‘Honeycomb’ wheels.
Inside is special too, with a timeless two-seater cockpit typically Aston Martin.
It’s got traditional woolen tweed inspired by the seat coverings of Aston Martin’s 1959 Le Mans-winning DBR1.
These provide a wonderful contrast against the high-tech weave of carbon fiber used for the shells of the lightweight performance seats, bespoke door cards, fascia vents, upper center console, and transmission tunnel.
Typical of the brand, the Valour could be customized to the nth degree.
For example, you could choose from machined aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber or walnut for the gearknob.
Gordon Ramsay will have had a field day speccing his Valour.
