Aston Martin may be known for decades of stylish, sophisticated GT cars that would look just right parked outside of a Geneva mansion, but it’s not often they build all-out track monsters. Sure, they’ve delved into the GT racing world, and sometimes with the assistance of dedicated racers like Prodrive, achieved considerable success, but their Vulcan is the product of a different style of thinking. Unrestrained by standards and restrictions of any racing category, the Vulcan serves to show what the company is capable of when they aim to develop the wildest, most outrageous track car they’re capable of.

The Vulcan is a success both on technical and aesthetic grounds. With that classic long-bonnet front, a shortened rear, huge, menacing headlights the R8 should be envious of, tasteful inlets and a well-integrated spoiler, this car looks purposeful, but unlike many racing cars, retains an air of elegance and beauty. Unlike many purpose-built racers, it’s got a mix of carbon and leather decorating the interior, making the cockpit a very special place to be. While these qualities would be enough to sell plenty of supercars, that fearsome powerplant hasn’t even been addressed yet.

Adding to the theater the car exudes, flames spit out the side-exit exhausts whenever a gear is pulled.

The 7.3-liter V12 makes somewhere in the neighborhood of 820 horsepower — thanks to a lack of restrictors! That monstrous, normally-aspirated powerplant does occupy most of the lengthy front end, but a transaxle six-speed racing transmission helps balance the car, which weighs in a few pounds shy of 3,000. For a sizable sports car like this, that isn’t terribly heavy, and it possesses a great amount of rigidity thanks to its carbon monocoque. Plus, with that well-developed aero kit, like a swimmer that’s managed to grow webbing between their digits, it’s totally suited for the task at hand.

When it comes to deceleration, carbon discs measuring 380 mm at the front and 360 mm at the rear, combined with all that downforce, is more than enough to bring the glamorous beast to a stop, which is good, since with $2.3 million, a wealthy enthusiast gets their hands on more performance than is typically sold to the public. Well, Darren Turner, GT racer extraordinaire, will take any owner through a training course that begins with Aston’s quickest road cars, progresses into the Vantage GT4 race car, and ends up with the Vulcan. Hopefully, that should give the overconfident billionaire with a low-boredom threshold enough skill to manage this monster. We hope, since there are only 24 Vulcans being built, and destroying one should get the perpetrator tarred and feathered, at least.