Since the 2016 Aston Martin Vulcan isn't street legal, and will only be built in very small numbers, there is a limited number of times that most people could reasonably expect to see one up close. Sure, it was shown publicly at the Geneva Motor Show,->ke228 but seeing it there couldn't possibly match the experience of seeing it in action. Fortunately, the public had the opportunity to see exactly that at this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed, as the Vulcan made its public track debut there. And of course, it spent a fair amount of time sitting on display again as well.

The Vulcan,->ke5079 with its 800-horsepower 7.0-liter, naturally aspirated V-12 engine and fully carbon fiber body, is something of an engineering exercise for the company, which has never before made something so powerful or fast. But it is also something of a halo model, having been made with a design language which will trickle down to the rest of Aston's->ke13 lineup. While the merits of a halo model which few people will ever see is debatable, the car is very impressive, and Goodwood was an appropriately English setting for its debut.

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Why it matters

The Vulcan will reportedly sprint to 60mph in under three seconds and hit a top speed of over 200mph, although there are no official numbers at this time. And impressive as that sounds, on a car which isn't street legal, it's at least somewhat irrelevant. What keeps it from being totally irrelevant is that other sports car racers of this type are always based on road cars, whereas the Vulcan is based on some road car ideas which don't exist in production form yet. It is potentially a very exciting thing. Let's just hope it doesn't get watered down too much.

2016 Aston Martin Vulcan

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