Aston Martin Unveils New Luxury Minicar (How Will Bond ever manage it?)

US News & World Report (via Yahoo!) ^ | 12/18/09

[greatdefender]

How can James Bond recover the control disk for the dual GoldenEye satellite weapons driving something like this?

Brace yourself. Aston Martin just released more detailed photos of its Cygnet luxury minicar, and it isn’t pretty. In fact, it looks a lot like Toyota’s Euro-based iQ on which it’s based.

Jalopnik, which published official photos this morning, writes: “[T]he looks are...umm...well...as these first official images show, the Cygnet is still closely based on the Toyota iQ city car, retaining the same basic body shape and even the same front lights. The front has been given a heavy Aston-style rework, however, complete with trademark grille and even miniature bonnet vents.”

Inside, the Cygnet will feature new colors and higher-quality materials, but retain the iQ’s “instrument pack and architecture,” adds Autocar. And though it has yet to be confirmed, industry analysts believe that it’s also likely to feature the iQ’s 1.3-liter four-cylinder engine.So what’s the general consensus? Most critics would agree with USA Today’s assessment: “[I]t could be the perfect car for a paunchy, middle-aged Bond, who long ago lost his license to kill and now works as a British bureaucrat.”

[greatdefender]

[stylecouncilor]

Looks like a Ford Focus.

[battlecry]

That would NOT meet with Mr. Brown’s approval.

[exnavy]

To small for me.

[a fool in paradise]

The new luxury clown car.

[ReneeLynn]

Bond intends to kill them with laughter.

[a fool in paradise]

There’s more room in a Skoda (which WAS in one of the Bond films).

[SamiGirl]

“The new luxury clown car.”

So true — just what I was thinking too.

[Dallas59]

It’s a sacrifice and for the children...

[whitedog57]

Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, yes.

Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton and Daniel Craig, no.

[refermech]

Looks like fun get around town car. Much safer than my SV650 motorcycle and probably has a heater too.

[a fool in paradise]

Cause there’s no room to rhumba in a sports car
You can’t move forward or back
There’s no room to do what the beat tells you to...

Elvis Presley, proud Cadillac driver.

[Slings and Arrows]

It's a Smart Car with delusions of adequacy.

[a fool in paradise]

A sane choice only if everyone else is mandated to drive similar weight class vehicles.

[Vendome]

Guess he will have to get a smaller Omeega and start wearing Spanx.

[Dallas59]

2011 Luxury items:

1000 square foot home

4 Cylinder hybrid car, holds four adults

Steak

Hot water

Electricity for a few hours

2 children

Filthy rich-Electricity 24 hours a day

[Son-Joshua]

ditto

[Jet Jaguar]

Toyota it's modeled from.

[Kirkwood]

How I wish this were a joke.

[cbkaty]

The A-M Moneypenny?