Aston Martin goes insane, shoves a V8 into a Cygnet city car
It's dumb and amazing and I want one.
The Aston Martin Cygnet is a unicorn. Basically a fancy version of a Toyota iQ (I'm not making this up, it exists), it's the smallest Aston you'll ever see. And now, the British automaker shoved a V8 into it.
Aston Martin has debuted the one-off V8 Cygnet at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Billed as the "ultimate city car," which it definitely is, the V8 Cygnet borrows its 430-horsepower, 4.7-liter V8 from the Vantage S. It can actually out-accelerate the Vantage S, reaching 60 mph in 4.2 seconds and continuing on until 170 mph. That's 60 mph faster than the standard Cygnet's top speed.
Aston started with the shell and body panels of a standard Cygnet, and a roll cage was welded in so the body isn't entirely overwhelmed with power. The automaker had to fabricate a new firewall and transmission tunnel from scratch, and it adapted the subframes and suspension from the last-generation Vantage. The body is largely unmodified, save for massive wheel arches to accommodate tires that will actually maintain traction. A tiny little torque tube transfers power to the rear wheels.
The interior is more focused. There's an FIA-compliant fire suppression system, and a Recaro racing seat in front of a removable Alcantara suede-wrapped steering wheel and a unique dashboard with the Vantage's instrument cluster. There are also two USB ports inside, as well as controls for air conditioning, because a little creature comfort never hurts.
Will you ever be able to buy one? No. Will we ever convince Aston Martin to let us drive this one? Hopefully. But for the meantime, you can catch it running up the Duke of Richmond's driveway at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend.
