The half a million pound Aston Martin – but where’s the rest of it? Diminutive Cygnet

A one-of-a-kind Aston Martin is being offered for sale for the first time ever – but the car is more Oddjob than 007.

With an asking price of ‘just under half a million pounds’, you might expect it to be one of the iconic marque’s limited edition high-performance supercars or a motor featured in a blockbuster Bond film.

But instead the near-£500k vehicle is a repurposed Toyota city car with more power than you could imagine – or ever need!

Dubbed ‘the world’s smallest supercar’, it has a 430bhp 4.7-litre V8 engine from a V8 Vantage S forced into its dinky engine bay.

The Cygnet V8 is a unique creation by the British luxury vehicle maker’s Q Division that has never been recreated since, making this a true one-off motor.

Nicholas Mee, founder of specialist car sales company Nicholas Mee & Company, says: ‘For visual impact, engineering intrigue and sheer “wow” factor, nothing comes close to the “Super Cygnet”.’

While it is listed by the Hertfordshire dealer as POA (price on application), This is Money is told it wants around £500,000 for this bonkers Aston Martin. 

More Oddjob than 007: This (foreground) one-of-a-kind Aston Martin Cygnet has gone up for sale with an asking price in the region of £500k. Here’s what makes it incredibly unique…

Commenting on the car’s sale, Mee said: ‘The V8 Super Cygnet represents Aston Martin engineering at its most creative and audacious. 

‘It’s a brilliant demonstration of what happens when you combine the heart of a V8 Vantage S with the compact dimensions of the Cygnet city car. 

‘The result is simply extraordinary – a 430bhp pocket rocket that delivers supercar thrills in a package you could park in the tightest city space. 

‘It’s unique, inspired, a bona fide collector car that’s guaranteed to put a smile on any enthusiast’s face.’

With an asking price of ‘just under half a million pounds’, you might expect it to be one of the iconic marque’s limited edition high-performance supercars or one that has featured in a blockbuster Bond film. But instead, the near-£500k motor is a repurposed Toyota city car

The Aston Martin Cygnet (left) was launched by the British brand in 2011 in a bid to drag down the average CO2 emissions of its sports car range. It was a rebranded Toyota iQ (right) with a 1.33-litre petrol engine

Launched in 2011, the Aston Martin Cygnet was a rebranded Toyota iQ with a 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and shoebox-like dimensions. 

The British sports car brand struck a deal with the Japanese auto giant so that it could use the iQ platform to effectively cheat emissions requirements from the beginning of the 2010s. 

Tasked with bringing down the emissions outputs of its high-performance sports cars, it instead sold the Cygnet as a super-economical luxury city car that would effectively drag down the average CO2 outputs of its model range.

But it wasn’t cheap when it was available new.

Fitted with a bespoke interior and Aston’s famous gaping grille, prices started from £32,115 – more than double the price of the Toyota it was based on.

And it didn’t stay on sale for long. 

By 2013, Aston had discontinued it having sold fewer than 1,000 globally. Only 143 made it onto UK roads – with the Super Cygnet being one of them. 

Cygnet on steroids. The Super Cygnet V8 was created by Aston Martin’s Q Division based in Gaydon. You can see how just how extreme it is compared to the standard car

Dubbed ‘the world’s smallest supercar’, it has a 430bhp 4.7-litre V8 engine from a V8 Vantage S forced into its dinky engine bay

With the monumental engine sending 430bhp to the rear wheels, the Cygnet V8  can accelerate from 0-to-60mph in just 4.2 seconds and – reportedly – continue up to a top speed of 170mph. And yes, it IS road legal…

The eight-cylinder engine – which was donated from a V8 Vantage S of the same period (pictured)

The 2018-registered vehicle is believed to be the most potent road-legal city car you can buy in Britain.

The outlandish project was brought to life over the course of a 10-month development period in the hands of Aston Martin’s specialist tuning Q Division based at its state-of-the-art headquarters in Gaydon. 

Sharing only the production Cygnet’s body panels, windows and lighting, every other aspect of the car is unique to the Super Cygnet. 

The eight-cylinder engine – which was donated from a V8 Vantage S of the same period – is married to a seven-speed ‘Sport Shift’ paddle-shift gearbox to send all 430 horses to the rear wheels only.

But it wasn’t a simple case of dropping a huge motor into the compact engine bay. 

The outlandish project was brought to life over the course of a 10-month development period in the hands of Aston Martin’s specialist tuning Q Division based at its state-of-the-art headquarters in Gaydon

The eight-cylinder engine is married to a seven-speed ‘Sport Shift’ paddle-shift gearbox to send all 430 horses to the rear wheels only 

The Cygnet’s platform was modified to incorporate the V8 Vantage S front and rear subframe assemblies, including suspension and ABS systems – an ingenious feat of packaging from Aston Martin’s tuning department

Aston Martin’s Q Division stripped out the rear passenger bench to install a safety roll cage for extra rigidity and strength

The extra safety skeleton is needed due to the likelihood that the car’s compact wheelbase and outrageous power could be more than a handful for even the most talented drivers

The Cygnet’s platform was modified to incorporate the V8 Vantage S front and rear subframe assemblies, including suspension and ABS systems – an ingenious feat of packaging from Aston Martin’s tuning department.

They also stripped out the rear passenger bench to install a safety roll cage for extra rigidity and strength – as well as the likelihood that its compact wheelbase and outrageous power could be more than a handful for even the most talented drivers. 

Weighing in at just 1,375kg, the Super Cygnet packs an impressive power-to-weight ratio of 313bhp per tonne.

It can accelerate from 0-to-60mph in just 4.2 seconds and [reportedly] continue up to a top speed of 170mph – assuming you found a driver brave enough to try it. 

Aston Martin’s works racing driver Darren Turner had attempted to put the figure to the test but only managed to hit 155mph before running out of runway at Bruntingthorpe’s proving grounds.

Weighing in at just 1,375kg, the Super Cygnet packs an impressive power-to-weight ratio of 313bhp per tonne

Left: The standard interior of the Aston Martin Cygnet sold from 2011 to 2013. Right: The stripped out cabin of the Super Cygnet V8

The Aston Martin Super Cygnet V8 made its public debut at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed (pictured)

It made its public debut at the 2018 Goodwood Festival of Speed, astonishing onlookers as the familiar city car silhouette sped up the famed Goodwood hill-climb course, a wild – and decidedly incongruous – V8 wail trailing in its wake.

Offered for sale the first time, this bona fide collector car has been regularly maintained by Aston Martin’s in-house team of engineers. 

‘Having been professionally stored for all of its life, the Super Cygnet is presented in nearly as new condition and has covered a mere 2,900 miles since it first emerged from the Aston Martin facility back in 2018,’ Nicholas Mee says.

‘The V8 Cygnet is supplied with fully documented technical specifications, its original operator manual, a special, also one-off, Cygnet V8 owner’s handbook, as well as a bespoke fitted car cover, and a distinctive model-related registration number.

‘This unique opportunity to acquire what is very likely the world’s smallest supercar.’