News homepage
Of all the things supercar makers are doing to pull their average CO2 emissions down, this is undoubtedly the most remarkable. No, your eyes aren't deceiving you - this really is a Toyota iQ dressed up as an Aston Martin. And by next year you'll be able to buy one for around £20,000. Probably.
Two things are stopping you and I, Mr and Mrs common motorist, buying a Cygnet in 2010: it's not 100 percent certain for production just yet, and it looks like Aston will only offer it to existing customers. We believe that it's the first time a maker has put an actual car on its options list. Beats a set of matching luggage, eh Ferrari?
Although saying that, Ferrari is playing the posh city car game itself, having overhauled a Fiat 500 to produce the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari recently, which doesn't go as far as grafting the face of a 599 Fiorano on the front of the Fiat, but it based on the same principle as the Cygnet.
That principle, the 'luxury commuter concept', as Aston puts it, aims to give the conscientious supercar buyer something a bit different to go to work in, keeping the miles on the real thing low (and the cost) while still saying "look at me, I've travailed my way to the pinnacle of life's greasy pole."
For that reason, we don't think the Cygnet will go on general sale, though there's nothing stopping the shrewder Aston buyer from selling his or hers on eBay for a tidy profit. Quite what they'll be selling we don't know - Aston hasn't officially said much yet - but based on these pictures, we're looking at a true Mini-Me DB9, with an interior awash with cow skin. There's even a docking station for an iPod touch, which we like a lot.
We'll give you more details when we get them, but for the time being have a good think about what you make of the Cygnet. A genius solution to reducing CO2? Or, well, you decide...
Mark Nichol - 16 Dec 2009
|
|
