Aston Martin Cygnet V8

The Aston Martin Cygnet V8 Drives As Silly As It Looks

The Aston Martin Cygnet V8 is one of the goofiest cars ever built. It originally started life as a fancied-up Toyota iQ city car—which Aston sold to meet an emission regulation—but now, it has the 430-hp V8 and most of the chassis components of a V8 Vantage S. But, while its track grew significantly, its wheelbase remains tiny at just under 80 inches.

This provides for an interesting driving experience. Carfection’s Henry Catchpole drove this wacky one-off up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, and it seems he had quite a good time. While the Cygnet V8 ran and drove, it wasn’t quite finished—the suspension needed tuning to mitigate its considerable pitch and roll. But really, you can only expect so much out of something this tiny with so much power.

And in spite of its objective dynamic shortcomings, though, Catchpole loved it. It’s hilarious to drive a tiny car with so much thrust and noise, and the crowd at Goodwood adores it. Just the fact that it exists arguably exempts it from any dynamic criticism.

Anthony Bunch Author

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