Aston wants a piece of Mini.
>>> First up, lemme give you a brief preview write up:
Yuu can see the traditional and familiar Aston face : The vertically-stacked lights and the wide-gaping low grille.
The rear also has familiar cues from traditional models albeit less so than the original concept of last year. Now , the production version you see here , has a VW Golf-ish rear lamp clusters.
The designers cum sculptors have done their very best with 'surface flaming' and swages to render the side profile as swoopy as a short-stubby car could possibly be.
Any car with as Aston badge needs to pop-it-like-its-hot on the inside. It has to scream sporty, exclusive and expensive. And so here , it doesn't disappoint (too much). With high-quality hide stiched over everywhere (possibly many cows died here of claustrophobia), edgy and exclusive embossed materials on the seats and door panels, and polished piano-finish for the dash. Of course, while most Aston's have more traditional interiors, this here is meant for the younger and trendier-than-thou set so you'd expect hyper modern luxuries and amenities and an overall, more modern-take on things.
Drive-wise, no one has the inside story as yet, but ,this is an Aston, so expect sharp and precise hot-hatch/roadster-like hustling around the bends. (Which no Toyota ever was; so good luck with that).
>>>
Now let's get on with general snipes at this car; When I first came across the initial pictures of the
Aston Martin Cygnet still on the design facility being chamfered away by its modellers ( you could almost sense their frustration going " More off! More off! Not sleek enough.. never sleek enough!" .) .
I was thinking " WTH. "
At that time, Aston claimed it was but a design study and a potential small car and should it ever come out, will be meant nothing more than a good-will gift to existing customers who just need a smaller ride to the nearest hypermart.
Totak bubbish right?
Until when I kinda stumbled upon a picture of one on the opposite page of an auto publication featuring a
Fiat 500C(which by the way has a price tag so steep it's even more a joke than the Cygnet.)
Now , we all know that the Fiat 500 range was conceived to be that retro cart-like car to
compete with the very successful BMW-owned MINI. There. Got my drift? Aston Martin wants a piece of the MINI-clientele was well.
No chicken pie here . Only Baby-swan pie.
Only time'll tell if Aston Martin can indeed bring its sporting heritage to this end of the market. Q... what a very expensive little bird it's gonna be.
.jpg)
