The new frontier of city driving
IT used to be the richer the man the bigger and more powerful the car. But now, in case you hadn’t noticed, there is an emerging trend towards expensive and increasingly stylish little city cars. None more so than Aston Martin’s pocket-sized Cygnet which is both very stylish and very exclusive.
Aston came up with the idea for the Cygnet when it realised so many of its customers took their Astons out at weekends and commuted in something else during the week. The resulting vehicle is undoubtedly the world’s most luxurious commuter car, if not the most controversial. It would be an understatement to say that the Cygnet has raised some eyebrows amongst Aston Martin purists.
Yet bespoke it is…think Saville Row. According to Aston Martin it takes 150 man hours to produce every car. Based on the Toyota iQ – with which it shares its mechanicals – almost every exterior body panel – bar the roof – and all of the bespoke interior are entirely new. Available in two special edition colours, white and black, these launch Cygnets cars cost £39,995 (the regular Cygnet will be priced from £30,995) but come with bespoke luggage by Bill Amberg. And if you’re cynical about it, remember that its target buyers are people that spend similar sums of money on watches, even mobile phones.
The exterior is surprisingly handsome. There’s a chrome grille from the same supplier as the million-pound-plus One-77 hypercar, plus the signature side strake and inverted rear lights familiar on bigger Astons. The alloy wheels have been created especially for the Cygnet too. Even the paint work is perfect. Not to forget that all-important Aston Martin badge which, in these special editions, matches the body colour.
But it’s inside where most of your money goes. Created to each customer’s specification and then trimmed by hand in as much leather as that used to to trim the DB9, the result is an interior that is positively sumptuous. Besides leather there’s polished aluminium, glossy piano black surfaces and Alcantara, plus a cool Garmin sat-nav on the dash. As intuitive to use as any I’ve seen.
But this smallest Aston Martin of all time is also the slowest. Acceleration time is an un-Aston Martin-like 0-62mph in 11.6 seconds. That said, around town, flying about Chelsea and Pimlico between the Bluebird Cafe, the Conran Shop and Daylesford Organic, the Cygnet feels very nippy. This is especially the case in the automatic version with CVT transmission. The steering is light and the car is remarkably entertaining to drive, so easy is it to flow in and out of traffic. And we found the car attracted a great deal of attention on the road – all positive, too.
So what’s not to like? Well only the price really. But if you’re balking at the price then you can’t afford it. Remind yourself you’d rather be stuck in commuter traffic in an Aston Martin than anything else, then breathe in that leather smell. City driving has never been like this.
THE FACTS:
ASTON MARTIN CYGNET
PRICE: £30,995
0-60MPH: 11.6secs
TOP SPEED: 106mph
CO2 G/KM: 120g/km
MPG COMBINED: 54.3mpg
THE VERDICT:
DESIGN
PERFORMANCE
PRACTICALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY