Curiously the car known internally as ‘son of Valkyrie’ has already been confirmed and a teaser image released ahead of its appearance at the Geneva Motor Show in ten days time. Called ‘003’ at present it will borrow heavily from the aerodynamic and active suspension technology of the Valkyrie, but come with a downsized turbo, hybrid engine. Likely to cost half the Valkyrie’s money, Aston Martin aims to build 400 of them.

Why? Partly because such cars make money, but mainly because Valkyrie, 003 and even Aston Martin’s sponsorship of the Red Bull F1 team are all part of a single strategy: to establish Aston Martin as a credible player among mid-engined sports cars before the release of the really important car: the standard production mid-engined machine designed to rival the Ferrari 488GTB and McLaren 720S. We know little about the car at present though it would be fair to speculate it will be hybrid driven. Aston Martin has also yet to find a new home for its Vanquish nameplate and this would be as logical a place as any for it to reside.