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Aston Martin Vulcan is a Track-Only God of Fire

One of the fastest-growing sub-segments of the supercar market seems to be that of the stripped down, high-grip hypercar that’s only certified for use on a racetrack. The Ferrari FXX-K and McLaren P1 GTR are just the two latest circuit-only screamers being marketed to bajillionaires who want to play racecar driver (after receiving extensive instruction from engineers and driving coaches supplied by the manufacturer, of course). Now a third such program has become public knowledge, and it’s being run by the fine folks at Aston Martin.

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The car at the center of the program is the Aston Martin Vulcan. Like every production Aston in history (with the exception of the Onion-article-worthy Cygnet), its engine is installed ahead of the passenger compartment and drives the rear wheels; that engine, incidentally, is a bellowing 7.0L naturally-aspriated V12 that Aston Martin says will produce in excess of 800 horsepower and interface with a 6-speed sequential transmission from respected motorsports gearbox supplier Xtrac. The mostly carbon fiber Vulcan – which will be built by the Canada-based motorsports engineering and manufacturing company Multimatic – rides on 19” center-lock wheels that front immense Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes (15” fronts, 14.1” rears) and wear Michelin slick tires. Suspension dampers will be of the spool-valve variety, similar to those found on Aston Martin’s One-77 supercar and the Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.

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And like the Ferrari and McLaren track car programs, Aston Martin won’t simply be handing the buyers of the 24 Vulcans scheduled to ever be built the keys and tell them “Try not to bend the car and/or hurt yourself.” Instead, Vulcan buyers will have to receive tutoring from pro shoes like longtime Aston Martin factory prototype and GT driver Darren Turner and will have to establish their track-driving capabilities in a V12 Vantage S, a One-77 and a Vantage GT4 racecar before they finally get the all-clear to play with their new toy. No pricing info for the Vulcan and the activities related to it has been released yet, but we’re guessing the cost of entry will be well over $1 million, a.k.a. outside an automotive journalist’s budget.

Source: Aston Martin