Aston Martin Cygnet: The Smallest Aston Ever Made

For most of us, this could be the only Aston Martin we’ll ever have a chance of owning: the Toyota iQ. No, sorry, the Aston Martin Cygnet.

It seems one of Britain’s most celebrated luxury marques thinks some city-dwelling commuters might want an Aston that’s a little easier to park. Enter the Cygnet.

Starting with a humble Toyota iQ, Aston gives it a hand-crafted interior in an English manor-born style, adds that iconic chrome grille, and proudly attaches the ‘wings’ badge to the bonnet.

Then they double the price tag to around £20k and pitch it squarely at wannabe WAGs, strippers and z-list celebrities. Will it be a success? I hate to say it, but probably. People buy all kinds of re-badged trash these days, and this one at least comes with genuine Aston craftsmanship behind it.

Expected to ship early in 2010, the Cygnet might just be the smallest — and quirkiest — Aston Martin ever built. Until then, we’re going to buy Fruit of the Loom sweaters and attempt to draw a Vivienne Westwood motif in them with a marker pen.

Update

Aston Martin has confirmed that the Cygnet will go into production, with cars available from spring 2011. Beneath the Aston badges sits a factory-standard Toyota iQ with a 1.3-litre petrol engine, but the car gets a redesigned front end and a completely re-engineered interior, complete with a huge range of personalisation options.

The Cygnet will be the slowest Aston Martin ever, producing 97bhp and averaging 59mpg. Top speed is a modest 106mph, with 0–62mph taking 11.8 seconds. Pricing starts from £30,000 and can easily climb towards £40,000 once options are ticked.