Aston Martin is one of the most prestigious car manufacturers, forging beautiful shapes from the finest materials. This British luxury marque has true pedigree and a loyal following of typically tasteful owners – including the world’s most famous secret agent. However, we doubt even MI6 could have predicted the Aston Martin Cygnet.
Emissions regulations are nothing new, and while stricter rules are pushing the industry into electrification today, the pressure was already on approaching 2010. All car manufacturers would have to begin considering the average emissions of their car, with penalties awarded for those that don’t comply. This is a big problem if you are a company like Aston Martin with a range of vehicles powered by muscular V8s and glorious V12 engines. These motors are the beating heart of every car, and so fundamentally changing the formula would likely result in customers crossing the road to rivals such as Bentley. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, what was Aston to do?
Well, then CEO of Aston Martin, Dr Ulrich Bez, decided that instead of corrupting existing models with smaller engines and burdening the company with development costs, a new model needed to be introduced. A car that could soak up that CO2 deficit and substantially lower the average. Was the answer something like an eco-friendly two-seater beautifully calved from sustainable materials? Nope. It was the Toyota iQ.
The Toyota iQ was actually the smallest new car you could buy back in its day. This city model with an incredibly square footprint was impressively packaged and could actually seat four at a squeeze. Frugal, bulletproof thanks to Toyota build quality, not to mention affordable. If only Aston Martin had a car like that…
A deal was struck between Aston and Toyota whereby the makers of V8 Vantages and Zagato bodied beauties had access to the iQ. The plan was to effectively restyle the Japanese city car and line the interior with all the plush materials you’d expect of an Aston Martin. Pitched as a Micromachine for existing owners visiting busy cities, the vehicle itself could be optioned as an extra when purchasing a new Aston.
In 2011, the Aston Martin Cygnet was born, and what an ugly duckling it was. Far from possessing the grace the brand is known for, it was a strange caricature of familiar pieces of Aston design bolted onto a tiny body. The iconic grille was plastered on the front and some questionable bonnet louvers inspired by the V12 Vantage sat on a stubby snout. Considering almost every body panel of the Cygnet was new, it was a total dog’s dinner.
The interior was more of a success than the exterior, with Aston Martin upholstering the Cygnet in the same beautiful leathers it did the rest of its cars. The interior architecture remained very Toyota, but it at least felt expensive thanks to exquisite material quality.
Aston Martin carried over the most potent engine option of the Toyota iQ, a 1.3-litre petrol unit packing 97bhp. The choice of a manual or terrible CVT gearbox was yours, as were many personalisation options. A 0-62mph run came and went in 11.8 seconds, and a top speed of 106mph can only be described as adequate. We very much doubt that existing Aston owners cared for its 57mpg fuel economy, but it was at least frugal.
A regular Toyota iQ cost a little over £10,000 when new, but the Aston Martin Cygnet required a hefty £31k from potential owners. That’s a fair chunk of change for what could be the ugliest and slowest Aston martin ever made. Regardless of this Aston Martin sold some, and the quirky little car is always a curiosity in the classifieds. In fact, they have kept their value with some being listed for more than the cost of a secondhand V8 Vantage. Madness.
The only small form of absolution the Cygnet will get from anyone with a drop of petrol in their veins comes from a one-off V8 model. This crazy machine was built at the request of a customer who wanted a Cygnet powered by a Vantage S. It took 10 months to shoehorn a V8 into the front of this car along with other genuine Aston running gear. While the notion of a 430bhp Toyota city car is bonkers, this is as close as the Cygnet ever came to being a real Aston Martin.
While we can all appreciate that the Aston martin Cygnet was perhaps a necessary evil at the time, that doesn’t mean we have to like it.
Keyword: The worst Aston Martin ever made