A true pocket rocket, the unique V8-powered Aston Martin Super Cygnet is up for sale

We’ve always had a soft spot for the 2011 Aston Martin Cygnet. Controversial from the outset, this esoteric transformation of the little Toyota IQ into a lavishly trimmed and ambitiously priced city car never quite got the reaction, or traction, it deserved. In fact, the Cygnet was more of an ugly duckling, with the Toyota underpinnings easily discernible beneath layers of Connolly leather and deep carpets, despite the addition of an Aston Martin grille and rear lamps.

Beneath the stubby bonnet was Toyota’s ultra-efficient 97bhp, 1.33-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine, a mere fraction of the size of the usual Aston Martin powertrain; the Cygnet was great for finding gaps in traffic and slotting into tiny parking spaces, but it didn’t have the performance chops and got short shrift from commentators and buyers alike.

The project was always a gamble. For Aston, it was a chance to lower the average overall CO2 output of the company’s fleet at a time when draconian penalties were looming for high output vehicles. The thinking went that Aston’s well-heeled owners would think nothing of dropping £40k on an urban runabout that could be trimmed to match their V8 or V12 and prove more practical in tight city streets.

Projected sales volumes in the thousands never materialised, and just 300 were made. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the model has since undergone something of a reappraisal, and values are now on the up as the Cygnet’s collectable status is assured.

This, on the other hand, will always be unique. The so-called Aston Martin Super Cygnet was a one-off factory-built project, created by Aston Martin’s Q division in 2018 at the request of a favourite customer. The question asked was simple – could an Aston Martin V8 be packaged into the 3m length of the Cygnet?

What followed was a classic piece of engineering skunk works, as a small team at the factory disassembled a Cygnet and completely rebuilt it around the new engine. To accommodate the V8, the front and rear subframes of an Aston Martin Vantage S were combined with a strengthened Cygnet body shell, complete with racing roll cage. The track was massively widened to accommodate the Vantage’s suspension and ABS systems, giving the Super Cygnet a purposeful, brutish stance.

All that extra bodywork is certainly not for show, because the net result of cramming a 430bhp V8 into a 1,375kg sub-compact city car was an absolute monster. The 4.7-litre V8 engine drives the rear wheels via a 7-speed ‘Sport Shift’ paddle-shift gearbox, giving a 0-60mph time of 4.2 seconds and a projected top speed of 170mph. It’s not known if this was ever achieved; Darren Turner, Aston Martin’s works racing driver, ‘only’ got as far as 155mph on a test track.

Finished in Buckinghamshire Green, the Super Cygnet’s interior - which has more in common with the Vantage than a Toyota – features bespoke black Alcantara and carbon fibre interior, along with Recaro racing bucket seats.

Having covered only 2,900 miles since new, including a raucous trip up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018, the Super Cygnet is up for sale for the very first time (price on application). On show at the Hertfordshire showrooms of Aston Martin specialists Nicholas Mee & Company, the Super Cygnet – the ‘world's smallest supercar’ - is an unrepeatable part of Aston Martin history.

AstonMartin.com, @AstonMartin

NicholasMee.co.uk, @Nicholas_Mee