Aston Martin Cygnet: James Bond's small iQ

Aston Martin has taken Toyota's Smart-sized iQ small car and built a luxury commuter car on top of it. The Cygnet concept, we presume, will make its in-the-flesh public debut at either September's Frankfurt Motor Show or November's Tokyo Motor Show.

Aston Martin suggests the iQ-based concept Cygnet — a young swan, if you're curious — would work like a yacht's tender to a DB9, DBS, Vantage or the upcoming Rapide. There is even a suggestion from Aston Martin that the Cygnet could be sold as an option to one of Aston Martin's bigger cars.

It may be luxurious, but we doubt that it will be as sexy as the Rapide sedan in the background.
(Credit: Aston Martin)

We like the idea that a luxury car doesn't have to be a huge gas guzzler. Lexus, in the US at least, is already exploiting that theme with its new HS250h, a sedan based on the new Prius hybrid. And we can imagine that a fuel-sipping iQ would be quite nice fitted with wood and leather coachwork, pothole-absorbing suspension, and sound-deadening cabin. Especially as dense traffic in urban areas means you're not exactly tapping the 350kW available in a DB9. No word yet on what engine the Cygnet would pack under its bonnet, but we'd be surprised if it wasn't hotter than the iQ's range of three-cylinder engines, both petrol and diesel, stretching in capacity from 1-litre to 1.4-litre.

The Toyota iQ is front-wheel drive and offers a choice of three-cylinder engines.
(Credit: Toyota)