It might seem at first that it’s a joke—Aston Martin building a car based on the Toyota iQ city car—but it’s not April first, and with a concept car called the Cygnet, indeed they’re serious.
Aston Martin describes the Cygnet concept as a luxury commuter, “a distinctive, intelligent and exclusive solution for urban travel in style and luxury.”
Why should only the hoi polloi be fuel efficient? Or put the other way, why should the fuel efficient not be able to arrive in Aston Martin style?
Accordingly, the Aston Martin Cygnet is “a creative, environmentally conscious solution, being small, yet with presence – and highly fuel efficient, now combined with the prestige of Aston Martin’s luxury brand ownership.”
Aston Martin Chief Executive, Dr Ulrich Bez said: “Now is the right time for Aston Martin to take this first bold step to embark on this special project – made possible with the support of an organisation of Toyota’s stature and capability and the intelligent design and perfect city car package of the iQ.”
Dr. Bez conceded that much remained to be done, but by working with Toyota and utilizing the respective strengths of each organization, “this project could become reality in the not too distant future.”
Aston Martin provided no technical information, including what suspension or engine differences there might be, though we would be surprised to see a production Aston Martin Cygnet as merely a Toyota iQ with a different body and inside, luxury trim.
Even so, one shouldn’t expect a production Aston Martin Cygnet to be a luxury tourer. Bez called it “akin to an exclusive tender to a luxury yacht.”
“The offering of a ‘Cygnet’ with a DBS, DB9 or Vantage is a unique combination of opposites,” said Bez, “and a novel transport solution allowing intelligent and sensitive mobility on an exclusive and innovative level.”
In short, the question is not whether a production version of the Cygnet will arrive, but when. And a cygnet, as you know, is a baby swan.
Then too, a baby swan was, in the children’s story. An ugly duckling.
And where's the IQ in that?
Q ... what say you? A really expensive shopping cart? A supplementary card to that exclusive Gold Card?
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