Daily News: Wednesday 7/12/17

Aston Martin Valkyrie Detailed FurtherAston Martin has been slowly releasing information on its new hypercar offering which will be designed and built with partner Red Bull Racing. Featuring photos which are “95%” of the way, the car looks to be suitably insane, with many flying buttresses, as well as severely styled rear-end and bottom of the car. The car looks to have bodywork which looks confusing to those unversed in the dark art of aerodynamics, with openings that lead to unknown places, and gullwing doors greeting those trying to enter the car itself. The doors open to a tiny opening, which looks to be one of the most difficult parts of the car for future owners. The standard Aston Martin badge is obviously too heavy for such an application, and as such Aston Martin has developed an acid-etched badge which is 99% lighter than the original, and is only 70 microns thick. The interior is relatively sparse for an Aston, with the custom-molded carbon fiber buckets bolted directly to the chassis. Rounding off the insane looks, the new photos display a rounded windscreen, a la an Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.

Look for more details on the ultra-limited-edition vehicle as the year progresses.

Dodge Viper Factory to Close its Door’sWe have known since October 2015 that Dodge was planning to close the current Viper production line. On August 31^st, this is to become a reality, as the Conner assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan shuts down for the final time. The current employees—roughly 80 in number—will be internally relocated, meaning no jobs will be lost. While Dodge has not been selling many Vipers, it is not a lack of a customer base which is killing the big snake off; rather, increasingly stringent safety regulations are to blame. On September 1^st, new laws requiring cars to have side-curtain airbags come into effect, and as the Viper does not have them and they can’t be added, the Viper must die. While no replacement is planned, one is rumored to be in the works.

McLaren Documentary Releases New TrailerDocumentary film McLaren has released a new trailer today for the US market. Directed by Roger Donaldson, McLaren was written by Matthew Metcalfe, Tim Woodhouse and James Brown, with Fraser Brown and Metcalfe producing. The film was made by General Film Corporation and Universal Pictures in association with the New Zealand Film Commission, Images & Sound, The Giltrap Group and FB Pictures, with funding through the New Zealand Government’s Screen Production Funding Grant and financing from the ANZ Bank. The film promises to show the life—ups and downs—of Bruce McLaren, featuring never-before-released archival footage.

The movie is set for general release over Video on Demand services on the 25^th of August, with a special pre-screening during Monterey Car Week on August 18^th.