Saw one of them parked up down a street near my old house.
I had to drive around the full extent of the one-way system in order to make another pass to confirm what I had just seen.
At that time in the evening reverse rush-hour no-one, just no-one even attempts to re-enter the gyratory traffic system without a legitimate reason such as forgetting to lock up the house, put the baby seat and contents from their resting place on the front lawn into the back seat of the car or thinking that the gas hob has been left on.
I had heard about the folly of a baby Aston Martin car.
Clarkson and Co were very amused but ultimately dismissive of the vehicle as though it were a complete betrayal of that great marque.
It is a compact city car based on the Toyota IQ but re-badged and sumptuously upholstered in leather hides, aluminium brushed gadget surrounds, hi tech gear shift knob and real wood trim behind the classic radiator grille modelled on the normal stable of thoroughbred supercars.
The Japanese originated model can be purchased for £12,500 on the road but with the upscaling in style, pedigree and that name the Cygnet as it is called comes in at a staring price of £30,000, yes, staring in open mouthed fashion as well as starting.
The kerb rested example down the road was in bright electric blue and with just a peak of what seemed to be the most impractical plush white interior to seats and trim. The side-on view is that of a Toyota but the Aston bonnet badge, or its fixing onto a rather snub nosed front, suggests that something special may be lurking in the engine compartment.
Apparently there is not.
Those paying such big money for a small car would be ultimately very disappointed by a top speed of 106mph although possibly downhill and in a favourable tail wind given the 97 BHP output of the 1.33 litre petrol engine.
It is not as if the toytown car has any beauty, passion, road presence or appeal because it is just very, very ordinary.
On its launch the manufacturer already had 400 orders and was fully confident of selling 1500 cars a year.
The model has now been terminated from the company brochure in what has been announced as a strategic decision but with barely 150 actual sales from the production run the whole exercise appears to have been just one huge miscalculation of client loyalty and the gullibility of the wider wannabe population.
The cynical view was that in bringing out a low CO2 emission vehicle the average output across the Aston Martin catalogue of environmentally unfriendly beasts would be dramatically reduced. Fearful of stringent sanctions on polluting characteristics of V12's and V8's this was actually a clever ruse to meet EU targets without the need to dramatically damage the reputation of speed and pulling power.
Ironically ,Aston Martin may have actually created a classic car of the future in terms of its great rarity although a first casual browse through the nearly new pages of a dealership shows second hand prices at a much depreciated £19,000. Might be a good and sound speculative investment even at that price. It is so small that you could park it in your understairs cupboard or shove it up into the loft to appreciate into that future pension windfall or special bequest to dependants. Unfortunately there is strong current competition with possibly the massive over-order of unused radiators grilles for the Cygnet now being stuck on the front of the new shape and ever present Ford Fiesta.
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