|
The
pictures that appeared on the internet in late June 2009 were somewhat
confusing. The full sized clay model did look like a convincing Aston
city car but surly this was one of those many internet spoofs or
wanabee AM designs that crop up with regularity. But it did look
convincing, like someone with skill had gone to real effort to take
all the Aston styling cues and make them work on a small city car. Yet
this was no joke, it did appear to be a real factory effort, a
sensible pint sized urban car but with the allure of an Aston. The
Cygnet had broken cover and all hell broke loose.
The
AMOC web forum went ballistic, post after post, page after page – no
thread progressed and grew like this. The idea of an Aston just for
the city, dare I say, a sensible Aston, exclusively suited to the cut
and thrust of the urban environment had challenged many members and
owners. Was AML selling out or adapting to the future demands of the
market place, legislation and the environment? Was 95 years of
performance centred motoring being dumped for a fast buck? The
downturn that began with the ‘Credit Crunch’ in 2008 damaged sales of
high end motor cars greatly and no manufacturer in the sector was
immune; AML was quick off the mark with the Cygnet, perhaps it could
fill the gap in demand until people desired and could afford
sportscars in greater numbers again. Everyone had an opinion and they
have all been expressed most strongly but development of the project continued at Gaydon regardless.
It has to be said that the Cygnet is not a totally brand new fresh
design but is strongly based on the Toyota iQ, an ultra-compact city car of similar proportions to
the Smart ForTwo.
First
view of the finished Cygnet concept was at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show
where the single car drew much attention. By
October 2010, the factory announced that production would indeed go
ahead at the Gaydon factory during 2011. The production version was
subsequently unveiled at the 2011 Geneva Motor show with production
for customers in the UK and Europe starting almost simultaneously. New
Cygnet owners will buzzing around the city by June 2011. Customers
outside of Europe should be able to buy the Cygnet sometime in 2012.
The
buzz created by the Cygnet won’t be dying down any time soon. |
