2 days ago
I visited Aston Martin HQ to design my ultimate Valhalla - even I was surprised by the result
That's not the only interesting stat. 'In terms of male:female split, it's still early days,' says Barker. 'I think it's probably about 90:10. We have a few more female customers out in the Asia-Pacific region.'
Valhalla buyers all have more than one car and most of them come from the US or Europe. The UK accounts for about 10% of sales.
When you're choosing your spec, the screen is cool, but if you want to see your colour in the real world, a huge bank of paint, leather, carbonfibre and fabric samples sits behind you.
A Storm Purple top layer for the bodywork looks mighty fine on the screen – and even better in hand under natural light.
Seeing the car almost life-size in front of you makes it clear how much of an impact colour can have on something like the Valhalla. Which leads to the question of 'elaborate' specs…
'We're still Aston Martin,' says Vittorio Gabba, head of personalisation at the company's ultra-bespoke Q by Aston Martin division, 'and we want the car to represent the brand.'
Q has, according to Gabba, played a role in 80% of the Valhallas specced so far. Autocar's purple beast could have a tinted purple carbon pack on it, custom decals, an off-book paint job or almost anything you can think of, which Q will do its utmost to make happen.
