"A Japanese Mini-Martin From the Company That Put James Bond on Wheels?" Green Car Advisor

A Japanese Mini-Martin From the Company That Put James Bond on Wheels?

Aston Martin Says It is Building a Commuter Concept Based -- Gasp! -- On Toyota's iQ

Aston Martin designers work on full-size clay model of Cygnet mini car concept. The designers' faces are deliberately blurred in this Aston Martin-supplied photo.

We're not sure if this is a validation of sorts for the idea that it finally is the right time for the small city car, but luxury performance carmaker Aston Martin is jumping on the bandwagon.

The marque famed for cars such as the DB5 that the fictional British intelligence agent James Bond made famous, and the new high-performance DBS, says it is developing a "luxury commuter car" concept based on Toyota's tiny IQ minicar.

It may not remain a concept for very long. Ulrich Bez, Aston Martin's chief executive, said in a statement released this morning that the "Cygnet," as the mini-Martin is being called, "could become reality in the not too distant future."

Aimed largely at Aston Martin owners who want something they can drive to work while leaving the big boy garaged until the weekend, the Aston Martin Cygnet would offer an "exclusive solution for urban travel in style and comfort," the company says.

It also would be "highly fuel-efficient," a clue that the tiny car would keep the IQ's tiny engine - the 1.3-liter, 70-horsepower, three-cylinder version in the production cars or the 1.4-liter, four-cylinder version shown in a Scion iQ concept -- could well be tuned by AM's engine people for better performance.

We wondered if the idea of a mini wearing the AM badge wasn't a bit silly, but Francesca Smith, the company's U.S. spokeswoman, said that it is being developed in response to requests from "many" existing Aston Martin customers.

Traffic is London can be murder, as can the city's congestion tax, which an Aston Martin commuter car the size of the IQ/Cygnet would likely escape.

That size slots the iQ (right) and presumably the Aston Martin Cygnet in between the Smartfortwo and the Fiat 500 - at 117.5 inches in overall length, the iQ is 11 inches longer the the Smart and 22 inches shorter than the 500.

Bez, in his statement,called the project a "first bold step...made possible with the support of an organization of Toyota's stature and capability and the intelligent design and perfect city car package of the iQ."

Although the car would be based on the Toyota iQ, reports that the Cygnet -- if given the green light -- would be built in Japan for Aston Martin by Toyota aren't true, said Smith, the U.S. spokeswoman. "It is to be built in Graydon," the location of the Aston Martin plant in the U.K.

John O'Dell, Senior Editor