Aston Martin V8 Cygnet revealed at Goodwood

The Aston Martin Cygnet is perhaps the least liked Aston of them all.

The ugly duckling of the Brit brand’s line up was an attempt to appeal to a new market and lower overall fleet emissions to offset the continued use of the V12.

It didn’t really pan out, but now Aston Martin has brought it back. One, anyway. With a 4.7-litre naturally aspirated V8.

With 320kW and 490Nm, the 1375kg V8 Cygnet has its engine mounted in the front, with a power-to-weight ratio of 233kW per tonne. It’s also rear-drive, and has a limited-slip differential.

It’s sporting 380mm brake discs with 6-pot calipers at the front, and 330mm discs are paired with 4-pots at the rear. It’ll need them too, as it is capable of a sprint to 100km/h in about 4.3 seconds. Aston martin says it’ll go on to top 274km/h.

11

Even better is that someone bought this car, as it was ordered through Aston Martin’s Q division.

Aston VP and head of special ops David King says the Cygnet was a chance for Aston to show it doesn’t need to take itself too seriously all the time.

“The V8 Cygnet shows the fun side of both Aston Martin and its customers.

11

“It is also a fine example of the engineering talent within the company as it’s no small achievement to fit the Vantage’s V8 engine so harmoniously into the Cygnet’s compact body.

“I am sure that it will amaze and thrill people when they see and hear it on the hill at the Festival of Speed.”

You can see it head up the hillclimb at Goodwood in the video below at 2:15, though the whole thing is really worth watching.