The V12 is – rightfully so – automotive royalty. But alas, increasingly draconic emission and fuel economy regulations have forced automakers to cut back on large powerplants in favor of downsized engines with a degree of hybrid assistance.
V12 cars equipped with a manual transmission are rarer still. Only three such vehicles are in production today, beginning with Gordon Murray's three-seat GMA T.50 and two-seat GMA T.33. The Cosworth-developed engine revs to a ridiculous 12,100 rpm in the T.50, and despite being smaller than the BMW-supplied V12 of the McLaren F1, it's a more powerful engine (654 hp compared to 618 hp).
The third and final V12 car with a manual transmission is the Aston Martin Valour, a limited-run grand tourer with styling that would make a Ford Mustang blush in awe. Truth be told, the Valour is best described as the successor of the one-off Victor. Based on the One-77, the Victor harks back to the V8 Vantage from the '70s and '80s.
Revealed in July 2023, the Valour is limited to 110 units worldwide. One such automobile was spotted near Schmohl, a dealer located to the northeast of Zurich. Based on the protective seat cover, the green-painted Aston Martin Valour in the video below was either prepared for customer delivery or taken for a short test drive following a service.
Closely related to the pre-facelift V12 Vantage, meaning that it's rocking the Mercedes COMAND infotainment system rather than the touchscreen-based unit of the DB12 and 2025 model year Vantage, the Valour sold out within two weeks of its premiere. 110 also refers to 110 years of Aston Martin, which makes the British automaker older than Italian rivals Ferrari and Lamborghini.
Photo: Acriore on YouTube
As opposed to the Victor, which sports a free-breathing V12 derived from the 5.9-liter engine from Aston Martin's Ford era, the Valour does not sound as exotic because its twelve-cylinder engineering marvel is a twin-turbo affair. Turbochargers need exhaust gas to run, therefore resulting in a more muffled exhaust note than that of an aspirated engine. Be that as it may, there's no denying that no car enthusiast will mistake Aston Martin's 5.2-liter engine for anything else.
Aston Martin never said how much the Valour costs, although a dealer source in the United States let it slip that we're talking about 1.5 to 2.0 million bucks. Considerably more than the V12 Vantage, which used to retail at just around $300,000.
The Brits quote 705 horsepower and 555 pound-feet (753 Nm) for the Valour, which is slightly better than the V12 Vantage's 690 horsepower. However, the DB11-derived DBS Superleggera is punchier still, for it packs 715 horsepower and 663 pound-feet (900 Nm).
Aston Martin's former chief executive officer and ex-AMG boss Tobias Moers said that the 5.2-liter V12 of the Victor, V12 Vantage, and DBS Superleggera will be produced through 2026 or 2027 at the latest. Aston Martin further aims to have an electrified powertrain option for every model line by 2026. Going forward, the core range should be fully electrified by the end of the decade.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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