Aston Martin Valkyrie: First look at the jaw-dropping £2m hypercar

First thing's first; this is a road-legal car which can be driven by anyone with a license. That may seem like we are stating the obvious, but when you see the Aston Martin Valkyrie up close and without number plates it looks like a legitimate race car. Put it on the grid at Le Mans and most spectators wouldn't think anything was untoward.

This car is what happens when Formula One technology from Red Bull is unchained from the rules of motorsport and introduced to the engineering and design prowess of Aston Martin. The Valkyrie gets its name from a female Norse god who was believed to choose who died in battle and who lived.

Destined to become a generation-defining hypercar, the Valkyrie was previously known as the Aston Martin Red Bull 001.

It is a limited-edition, multi-million-pound road-legal racer with the potential to be as fast around a track as a Formula One car - a claim made by Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer himself.

Only 150 road-legal examples will be built, plus a further 25 track-ready versions which will be offered to buyers who would like a Valkyrie for the road and one for racing.

Only those with seriously deep pockets need apply, but even then your chances of ownership fall into the hands of Aston Martin and whether it considers you worthy.

The car has a 6.5-litre V12 engine produced by Cosworth, plus an F1-inspired energy recovery system to gather energy normally lost when braking and feed it into a battery pack, ready to be deployed back to the wheels during acceleration. Total power output isn't yet known, but Aston's claim of a 1:1 power-to-weight ratio means we can expect to see around 900-1,000kg and the same in horsepower.

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We have seen the Valkyrie in images before, but standing next to the car itself projects its dramatic styling to a new level. The way the cockpit appears to be suspended above the ground like a Star Wars Podracer is pure theatre, while the elevated wheel arches give the car the look of prototype Le Mans racer, only even more beautiful.

Aston isn't yet ready to show us the interior, so this show car doesn't really have one, but the steering wheel is on the left (rather than centre), thus making it a two-seater. The car is expected to cost between £2m and £3m and deliveries will begin in 2019.