The Aston Martin Cygnet Is the Most Ridiculous Exotic Car Ever
2022 ж. 13 Шіл.
2 330 753 Рет қаралды
CHECK OUT CARS & BIDS!
carsandbids.com
CHECK OUT THE AUTOPIAN!
www.theautopian.com/
Aston Martin Cygnet review!! The Aston Martin Cygnet is an absolutely insane vehicle, and surely the most ridiculous luxury car ever -- and today I'm reviewing it. I'm going to show you allll the quirks and features of the Aston Martin Cygnet, and I'm also going to drive the Cygnet and show you what it's like behind the wheel.
WEBSITE & MERCH!
www.dougdemuro.com
FOLLOW ME!
Twitter - / dougdemuro
Instagram - / dougdemuro
Facebook - / ddemuro
DOUGSCORE CHART:
www.dougdemuro.com/dougscore
Ah, the most reliable Aston Martin in history.
X)
The secret behind it? It was made by Toyota!
Everything except the outer shell is reliable, if you removed the outer shell, half the clips break.
They must be reliable because to this Day i still see quite a few of them in the "Luxury Shopping Streets" of Munich, Frankfurt etc. Say what you will, but if you want a "Luxury Smart" that is easy to park in the narrow Medieval Streets of Europe, this is perfect. Hence why they are actually not a rare Sight in European Shopping Streets
@Retired Bore its still a rebadged Toyota, made by Toyota, with some parts made elsewhere, but still very much Toyota, which can be easily swapped to the iQ
Aston Martin Cygnet: the official car of the guy who wants maximum gas mileage but can only drive an Aston because he thinks he’s James Bond, but he's really just James May.
James May rn 🔥
James May is goated
Godspeed Captain Slow!
May is better than any actor pretending he is a superhero - cause he is for real. And does not call stuntmen when it gets hard.
@Bruh Bruh I think I would too.
Aston Martin really did ask the question of: "Hmmm, how can we make a car worth 10k be worth 40k?" And then decided the answer was to stuff 30k worth of leather into the interior.
Wait, the Scion IQ was only 10 thousand new where you're from? Wtf
@@Gritt982 close enough.
Europeans love to boast about how good their cars are when all you pay for is a badge and leather with only a small amount of the thought going into the car itself.
@@rulingmoss5599 i doubt when buying a peugeot or fiat you pay for the badge or leather
@@rulingmoss5599 European cars are (or at least, were) sensible and rational. They are less so now that American trend came over in the shape of SUV/crossovers. How *good* a car is largely depends how well it suits your needs. So I'd say they are worse now with the SUV trend as you really don't need an SUV for largely city driving, suddenly it's more difficult to park and people get stuck everywhere because they think their vehicle has offroad capabilities. As usual, American trends are spreading through invasive marketing and ruining it for all. Thanks. :)
The least depreciating Aston Martin in history. In the UK, a Cygnet with the lowest miles is currently listed for just under £40,000. That's nearly $49,000.
Doug is a registered flex offender
Still more expensive than a rundown DB7.
I know I want one!
@@RevLexus why? I have an abarth that i use to get around the city! Much nicer and i got it for half the price!
@@recruitmentch I currently have a high spec iQ automatic and the cygnet is cool and interesting. I like rare and cool cars (like my sc430)
Doug didn't mention probably the most important selling point: At the time, the Cygnet was effectively offered as a mini version of the Aston Martin that customers already had in their garage. That is, both the paint and the entire interior were offered in the same colors and with the same materials. At least in Switzerland I have seen several Cygnets on the road.
i wish they did this with a honda fit rather than the worst toyota in existence.
I thought Aston would only sell the Cygnet to those existing customers, and not to the general public?
@@cavemanvi I’ve got a Toyota IQ and I can say it’s the one of the most reliable cars I’ve ever had; and I got the diesel version
You are correct but only during the final months of the manufacture as they were unable to sell them as a stand alone vehicle.
I totally forgot this car existed until I ran into one two years ago in the inner city of Vienna. What a bizarre vehicle, but really quirky and cute.
Always wanted to see one of these ridiculous Cygnets in person. Has to be the cheapest to maintain and insure Aston ever.
I've spotted a few in Italy and Austria, at the lakes/border.
Lol
I have seen a couple, and they are easily distinguished from an Toyota IQ. Saw one in Britsh Racing Green and it was actually a little bit cool.
I will never understand why but we have a lot of them here in Paris (they didn’t depreciate at all btw). It’s funny as I am always taking them for Toyota IQs, especially from the side angle. They are quite disappointing exterior wise, but interesting in the inside.
I think they sold no more than 1,000 of this thing all ver the World
The idea of reducing the average emissions of the range was a sound one - the Cygnet was only available to buy if the customer was also buying a proper Aston at the same time, the idea being that when you were seen in a Cygnet, it was also a proof that you possessed the real thing too. This, of course, no longer applies in the used market but at the time it was as much a badge of status as any other Aston.
that makes a LOT of sense, thing is I did not know this at all and I've seen Cygnets on the road here in Denmark where I live
I can't stop looking at that crooked chrome strip on the driver door.
Driving me crazyyy
Guy who convinced them to put in a V8 solely for him is an absolute boss
I wish to see that now , and also check a DRAG STRIP time , i also hope it is AWD.
@@Narinjas it does 0-60 in 4,2 seconds and no, it doesnt have awd, just a typical rwd.
Saw that thing at Goodwood in 2018, hearing that loud 4.7L V8 sound coming from a tiny Cygnet was a bit scary lol.
@@moz1998 yah I imagine
Exactly what they should have done with them all
I owned the IQ for a few years while I was in college. It was fantastic. It didn’t drive fast, felt cheap, only had 1 cup holder, and only had an 8 gallon gas tank. But I still loved it because if you put the back seats down, you had a really solid trunk space and the front seats could go extremely far back to the point where you really didn’t feel like you were in a tiny car. Being basically a two seater, it meant that I was never the guy driving my drunk friends around. One memory I’ll never forget is when we packed all the seats to go get burritos, and some girl was standing there watching as my (large) friends all climbed out the back of this clown car.
It was similar in my Prelude, except that car wasn't as short overall, but the rear seats were just as useless ;p
So you didn't want to pay the extra $27,000US and upgrade to Aston Martin?
😂😂😂 The last bit
why are Americans so obsessed with cup holders? Cannot get it.
@@gzboti Probably for the work commute. We all got to have our coffee next to us.
This is low-key probably the best vehicle they ever produced. Super luxurious and comfortable, and the Toyota bones will make it last forever
I own a lexus LS400 and I want one of these so badly
@@TheCinderDudedude buy a scion iq they’re way cheaper, and from the outside look cooler, this is just an abomination of a car that shouldn’t even have made it out of production, they didn’t do anything to the 94hp motor, and added tons of weight to the car lol, it’s way slower and gets worse gas mileage than a iq. And is 3x the cost. Horrible idea don’t ever
@@calebtvog If they made modifications to the motor it would defeat the purpose of the car.
This guy seems so genuinely in love with his job. There is so much passion here. Lovely. Kudos to you brother. I admire you.
I was working in a technical car inspection center in Central Paris ten years ago. We worked with a bunch of prestigious car dealers and Aston Martin was one of them. We inspected a few cygnets. Most of the time they were from the dealer stock, the salemens were complaining all the time on how they struggled to get rid of those, no one of their customers wanted one, even not at the usual price, especially not at a reduced price. So they thought to give them as a gift for the best customers who's just bought a new big high top range V12 model from the brand, they declined... Finally those cars finished at auctions, surely close to the price of an IQ...
Can't say I'm shocked it was a pretty cynical attempt to reduce the fleet C02 figure. Aston would have been better off either making Aston versions of other manufacturers cars (like Lotus did with the Ford Cortina or the Vauxhall Carlton) or make a sub brand selling cheaper cars with smaller engines, maybe a Catarham type track car with a small 4 cylinder from one of the volume manufacturers
The have planted enough trees to create a forest...
Not anymore, anybody who bought one at list price wouldn't of lost any money on it. They're worth a few quid!
Well usually in the future these type quirky cars will bring money 💰 at auctions. Might be a good investment 😆👍🏼
Someone I think recently had the Q department install a V8 and wider track in one!
Aston Martin missed their chance to remove the back seats and fill the cargo space with custom Aston Martin leather handbags. That would have looked like "true luxury".
good point
I think they absolutely bombed the compliance car idea. They could have been so much better than vomit leather everywhere, but I don’t think they gave enough of a damn about luxury city cars; they only cared to do the bare minimum to prevent this from dragging the badge down anymore
Depends on the country seats affect taxation. But i agree lmao. Or this was the most seated aston offered at the time. I think rapide came later lol.
No. Because if you have money,you do not travel with city car,does not matter how luxturius it is,so what is the point to handbags?
Pretty sure that would’ve been a deal breaker for licensing the design as the 3+1 seating design was a major design breakthrough/innovation that Toyota was very proud of.
this dude keeps getting more and more animated as the years go by. it's hilariously awesome. just letting everyone know....
I had to check to see if my playback speed had changed from normal to something higher. That’s how fast his movements were! 😂
@@2knight22I am fairly certain he sped up this video to like 110% when he was editing. His head and arm movements are unnaturally quick and choppy. Frankly its kind of uncanny and weird, like watching CGI that looks eerily real
@@rwh_ yeah it seems to be on purpose. probably because the video is already 36 minutes long
Glad you got to do a video on the cygnet. Been curious about it. I have a 2014 Series 10 Scion iQ and absolutely love it. Live and work in Queens NYC where parking is a nightmare for most but not me. The newer iQ’s have a real touch screen stereo with navigation. I keep the rear driver side seat down as a 3 seater. Perfect for dropping two kids off at school on my way to work. Perfect city car, would love to upgrade to a cygnet, but not for that much $.
From what I heard: Back in the day, When this car was new, you couldn't just go into an Aston Martin dealership and order a Cygnet. No, it was only offered as an "option" to a regular Aston Martin. Yes, the Cygnet was a 30.000 pound option on the option list of a Vantage or DB9.
I remember this detail as well (maybe from Top Gear?) Cygnet wasnt sold independently, but rather as an optional extra for one of their regular cars. Other luxury car makers charge ridiculous sums for options. Some options would buy a regular car. Aston went ahead and made the option an actual car.
So, it's the motocompo of Aston Martin
At first this sounds brilliant: if you want to preserve your Aston and don’t want to spend too much on fuel, you get a daily driver that means you own an expensive Aston. But then you realise rich people don’t care and will probably daily drive a Porsche Cayenne or BMW 5 Series.
@@genericasian I think a while ago, maybe about the same time Audi did a bicycle as an option for something ridiculous like £5000, maybe more.
Ah, no wonder the production numbers were so low....if they made it purchasable on it's own then they would have probably hit their sales targets.
My grandpa bought this car.. he literally bought it ironically because it was hilarious and honestly it was such a conversation starter
Did he buy used? He would've had to buy another car and purchase this as an option.
@@tylerhansen99870 do you have to buy an Aston to purchase this “Aston”
@@xcarter_carsx2848 yes
@@xcarter_carsx2848 You could only buy a new one if you also bought a proper Aston, but now you can buy a second hand Cygnet on its own - there is one for sale on Autotrader UK.
Your grandpa is a badass!
I love watching Doug at 1.25 X speed. Gets my day going!
Doug’s initial “THIS” just keeps evolving. Love it.
This vehicle is like the definition of "compliance car". Like, Aston Martin didn't WANT you to buy it, it merely existed to help with regulations.
With that overdone luxury interior, though, it makes you wonder what they were expecting from the Cygnet.
@@megachonk9440 well they couldn't tarnish their reputation with a cheap Toyota interior. Lol
Only 150 were really produced. Not a thousand as Doug stated.
@@muppetpaster a quick google search will show that 786 were produced in total. So that makes Dougs numbers closer to yours.
The funny thing is that Aston Martin didn't actually need it, they were exempt from the regulations at the time due to their small annual production. I believe there was hope from AM they could attract a new type of clientele to the brand, e.g. rich parents buying it for their daughters first car.
FYI: Each Cygnet had 300+ hours of hand made interior detailing and upholstery work...
And then they ruined it with that ugly ass flower crap
@@woodyscrappyopenings5707 not all of them. Only the Q by Aston Martin models.
@@woodyscrappyopenings5707 It does look very tacky, it looks like what you'd see on the doorcards of a clapped out £500 mx5 with a duece kit and a dodgy mot certificate.
The person in charge of stitching the roof did a terrible job
I like how Doug was appreciating the Cygnet in the starting and then like 2 seconds later he called it 'stoopid'. Classic Doug
The interior looks a lot better than I expected. It actually looks like a decent place to spend time.
This car might actually be slightly slower than the stock Toyota iQ. Just think of how much weight was added in leather and extra pieces to make it more luxurious.
Nothing a hybrid turbo can’t solve
@@1nsanejochem /s
I think there were a couple of engine options. Most had the 1.0 3 cyl 68hp (0-60 14 sec. I think this had the 1.3 4 cyl, which was more powerful.
If that’s the case I’ll take the Toyota
Not really, I mean, how much could that weight? A person weight maybe? So isn't that much
I think you miss a key part of Aston's intention with the Cygnet. It is the ultimate "my other car is an Aston" badge. In the UK you could only buy this alongside a grown up Aston. Perfect for pootling around Chelsea while making sure people didn't think you were a pleb.
Not true. They were available to anyone, although it was envisaged existing customers would get priority. The sole reason for it was to lower the fleet average emissions of the AM range so the company could stay inside Euro regulations.
They were most often used as a deal-sweetener gift by Aston dealers to sell DBSs which were virtually impossible to sell otherwise due to ludicrous over-pricing.
@@Tourist1967 I’m pretty sure the original commenter was correct and not yourself. Aston only needed to sell a limited number and they were generally given to DBS buyers as a deal-sweetener. That might’ve changed by the final year of production but certainly at launch they weren’t available in the UK to Joe Public.
And 300 people were stupid enough to fall for that shit, worldwide.
@@Tourist1967 Correct. I thought this was common knowledge but after skimming over the comments you're the only one to mention the actual reason for the Cygnet to exist.
Q is a character in the James Bond films and novelizations. Q is the head of Q Branch (later Q Division), the fictional research and development division of the British Secret Service.
I have never heard of these, I can’t believe it actually exists. The interior is seriously impressive
"Mom can we get an Aston Martin?" "We have Aston Martin at home." Aston Martin at home:
Well it is an Aston Martin
I would just laugh at my kid if they asked that. Like "yeah sure buddy, right after we buy that bugatti"
Meanwhile: Toyota iQ
"Oh mom, why this piece of crap?!?!" "Don't worry, I will put on a custom turbo kit and give them 700hp+."
Back when it came out, I remember thinking "who would buy this car?’ As expected, the answer was 'no one.' When production began in 2011, Aston targeted 4,000 sales annually but ended up selling fewer than 150 in total! Thanks Doug for continuing to review odd and interesting cars that most have forgotten about (or never knew existed).
Nope!
There are people who would buy an electric Mustang SUV, so you never know
@@KepleroGT I wonder how that outsells the regular Mustang GT coupe, or even the Ecoboost.😫
Yeah, who's gonna buy it? - The guys who actually buy Aston Martins won't because they don't give a shit about pollution, climate change or anything of the sort. - The guys who actually care about pollution and climate change aren't gonna spend that much fucking money on a glorified Smart ForTwo.
@@extremegrieferbible *glorified Toyota IQ. Wait a minute. Smart. IQ. What are they trying to say!?!
Always wondered about buying an iQ and converting it into a Cygnet. A few people did it, but from what I remember, it was way more expensive to buy the kit/lights etc than you’d expect, nobody really made them.
It's a crazy idea, almost impossible. I'd suggest to try an Abarth mod on the iQ. Like an old Fiat Abarth 500. At least you can find the pieces and it'd be the only one on the planet
Doug displaying the key with that storm drain in the same frame gave me anxiety
Ironically this is the most reliable Aston Martin ever built…
It’s not ironic
@@inthebackwiththerabbish The irony is lost
because it is a Toyota. Toyota IQ
Because inside is a toyota
God bless Toyota engineering
Can you imagine trying for years to get a job at Aston Martin, finally landing work at your favorite car company, and then being asked to go on to the production line of this thing?!
It’s a job and it will go on your resume you worked for Aston
Mmm
Mmm
@@darell8310 o
@@darell8310 o
Ah yes, about the same backseat legroom as an MkIII Supra. Probably more headroom in the Cygnet though 😂
more room than my sc430 haha
The standard Toyota/Scion IQ came with a regular radio/CD player at the top of the center column. The late ones even had a touchscreen with Bluetooth and a backup camera. I have no clue why Aston Martin got rid of that for the Cygnet. The passenger seat sits a few inches further forward than the driver's seat, so rear seat the legroom isn't quite so impossible on that side. The are spaces under the rear seat bottom for storing the back seat head rests. Most owners leave the rear seats folded down, and just raise it if and when they need to carry another person. Used that way, it pretty practical.
My former boss used to drive a Smart but when this car came out he immediately bought one. It was in green and looked very nice. For crowded cities this was the perfect car for people with money.
Death can
@@Grandpaneedsblood it's not so bad when everyone else isn't driving a 3 ton truck or SUV while texting. Hard to imagine for an American I guess.
@@Weimerica8841 to small it's very gay
@@Grandpaneedsblood I guess that's why you take the bus, right?
@@Weimerica8841 no I drive a brand new rolls royce
Imagine being one of the Aston Martin designers that were thrown this project... working for one of the most prestigious car design companies in the world, only to be assigned to try to hide the cheap plastics in a Toyota IQ interior!🤣
I can see it being a job for several intern designers though, it's a fun and easy project to get them used to designing better things. I have no idea if they used interns for this project though.
@@yasirrosli4305 Would have been the smart way to do it. That's how we use interns at my company; instead of assigning them as menial assistants on larger projects, we give them smaller low-risk projects to run (mostly) themselves. Frees up more senior folks from having to spend time on non-critical deliverables, and gives the interns a better learning experience from the perspective of how a complete project or program actually functions.
@@its_clean ..and if they screw up, nothing much is lost...!!
Imagine being the Aston Martin designer that decided a stock image of a pink flower looked good.
@@masssssy I was utterly confused by that at first, but after hearing a bit more description about it being customized, I think that must have been a customer request. I seriously can't fathom that being an option to put into even a car ridiculous as this, stock.
I love these! My iQ is actually is in a similar shade of purple!
Watching Doug is like watching Sheldon Cooper do Fun With Flags 😂😂😂
omg yes!
In Italy, especially in Rome where parking around is a nightmare, Cygnets are owned unironically.
No, IQs are.
Imagine how hard the salesperson was laughing when a customer took this home 😂
Laughing to the bank
Back when it came out, it came only as an option in the option-list of a DBS or Vantage. You couldn’t just walk in the dealership and buy this car.
@@aryan_dev Ah. I see. So basically, the dealers were just as ashamed to sell it as Aston was ashamed to manufacture it.
@@aryan_dev a salesperson still sold this car regardless of the absence of a dealership.
You see alan we live in a world full of exceptions. I just saw an old video a few months back of an old vantage which had this car on it’s option list. Some gentleman back in tha day took this car as an option
A car like this would be so helpful for city slickers. Many luxury SUVs and big sedans make driving in a dense city so hard. I know many don’t have a car, but if you had to get one, having a luxury small car like this would be awesome. Not many small luxury cars like this exist. The Mini, Smart Car, etc of the world are tiny , but way to cheap feeling.
for the $55k large, AM really should have spent more on what is under the skin- upgrading the suspension, adding both acoustical noise suppression and electronic noise cancellation, a turbocharger or supercharger, upgraded motor mounts, hydrolastic suspension bushings, thicker window glass etc.
I wish other manufacturers had to make their own "compliance" cars. Imagine a modern Porsche based VW Beetle or an actual Ferrari based Abarth 595 😂
Ikr
I have never been so aroused
So a Porsche 9.01 . A Ferrari 108 GTB Wee. A McLaren 1.70 S. A Koenigsegg ag wherea?. A Jaguar Wee Type. A Morgan -4 and ÷8.
I mean they did make the Abarth Tributo Ferrari. Not really the same as this though.
@@redmr2na lmao
So like the more exotic Aston Martin cars, the Cygnet also has back seats that you can't fit into the back of, another Aston Martin feature many may overlook in this car.
I guess carrying on that trend was the only reason they chose to leave them in!
Thank you for your pronunciation, which is impecable, as spanish I understand all you say, kind regards
I have a scion IQ as my daily driver. After a rear seat delete its surprisingly practical. Oh, and the IQ did come with leather seats. I hate them. They are super slippery and the seats are nearly flat with no bolsters at all.
Ah yes the words every automaker dream of hearing about their car; "people are owning them and not ironically"
Saw the Cygnet V8 at Goodwood a few years ago, absolutely hilarious, looked pretty cool, and sounded amazing! they really did stuff that engine in, from memory the dashboard is pushed further into the interior to fit the engine in.
Unironically one of my dream cars! I love micro cars.
I live in the uk and my backup car/runabout is a 2010 iq with the1.0 3 cylinder engine and 5 speed manual gearbox.It cost me £2000(about 2300 dollars).If you leave the rear seats permanently down there is space for shopping.It will give about 65mpg at 70mph on the motorway,is zero rated for road taxes and ulez compliant in central London.Having seen your video I now feel wealthy.
The point is they never had to sell any of them. Just having it available meet the fuel mileage goals. They never expected anyone to buy it.
That's not how those regulations work. The fuel economy figures are weighted by the number of vehicles sold when calculating fleet average MPG.
@@GintaPPE1000 The problem with this sort of regulation at all is that it really screws the little guy. As he mentioned all the ones with big parent companies did absolutely nothing different but any sort of small scale specialty car maker is never going to have the sort of economy of scale to make an entry level vehicle viable. Even if they did nothing but change their logos its going to cost more than what ford is selling it for... because they're buying it from ford.
ive seen one in the wild
Except that’s not at all why they made it. Aston is a low volume manufacturer and it didn’t apply at the time.
Exactly
That flower design on the interior might be one of the most revolting things I've ever seen in a car. This puts even the Fiat Multipla's interior to shame
Haha it's so true. Simply dreadful
yeah, it doesn't fit at all.^^
Seriously though, whose ideas was to have those flowers designs there? My grandma? Yeah, that’s honestly the only legit explanation I can think of for such a design choice.
yea yea yea, your manhood is still intact, don't worry
It's absolutely awful, and I won't ever look back at any other interior design again until they all print flower pictures onto the panels.
In the posh neighbourhood (where houses cost tens of £millions) near me someone actually has one of these in their driveway so I've seen it in person. IMO it looks so much better than the iQ and this perhaps is an understated way to show that you're rich. Also very easy to move around in cities and very economical to run compared to these Bentleys parked inside their garage. It's a no-brainer for city use.
I LOVE those IQ's...I live in the city, would be a great reliable run-about as a compliment in the garage to my huge S-class. So would LOVE to run across/steal a Cygnet. Love quirky/unique cars, plus Toyota reliability. Much more desirable to me than a SMART car.
I’m dreaming of the day I will be driving this car while listening to the song “Dupe- International “ all the way loud 🥶🥶🥶
that's actually my wifes dream car. we were at the Vienna Auto Show in 2012 or 13 and when she saw this she totally freaked out. She loves tiny cars in general way more than bigger ones but a tiny car with luxury touch was exactly what she wants. But frankly said it was just not affordable and at the end of the day even not practical enough.
It actually got me thinking as well. This is an untapped market, luxury city cars. Instead of the cheap plastic death traps we always get.
Cars arent the only tiny things she enjoys if she married you
@@joecool9739 in general she is absolutely not in to cars, so they are probably the least important things for her to enjoy...
"She loves tiny cars"... Does she love everything tiny??? Just asking....
@@m-a-l-3000 She isnt into large things in general
In Rome in Italy at some point there were 5 cygnets moving around the city. They were green, black, silver, metallic yellow and orange
My daily driver is a Toyota IQ D4D 1.4 90 BHP, and it's amazing! Hence I have 4 of them.
If someone said they had an Aston Martin in the garage I’d be wow’d … but when the garage door opens and I see a Cygnet I think I’d be even more happier to see one of these to be honest lol.
Hard agree. I live this car to absolute bits. If I was rich it would absolutely be my runabout
Honestly, same. They're rarer than a lot of Astons, and the sort of person who'd pull something like that off is usually someone you'd want to be around anyway.
Kid: “Mum, can we get an Aston Martin?” Mum: “We have an Aston Martin at home.” Aston Martin at home:
But still lol
@@jaedenbsomg4838 Well use of the meme.
You beat me to it.
Here as the Scion iQ is kind of a rare car here in the United States yet I saw one on the road recently. To me, the Aston Martin Cygnet sibling is ridiculous, sure, but it has to be the best-looking car to have ever come out of a Toyota factory TBH. It's also the most adorable Aston ever made!
You have forgotten one of the weirdest things of the Cygnet and IQ: Because the head room in the back wa sso small their was a risk your head would collide with the back part of the roof when you get rear ended. Thats why the Cygnet and IQ are the only ever production cars that have a back airbag, sitting just upfront the trunk lid, spanning over the entire width of the interior.
Is that where my 11th air bag is? I have never been able to find them all.
I fantasize about telling my family and friends that I bought an Aston Martin and then seeing their faces when I pull up in this. It's a lot of money for a joke but I think it would be worth it 😅
Buy a tractor and say you got a Lamborghini
I'm sure that a 'proper' Aston Martin of the same time would cost much less.
I had the Toyota version of this and it was fantastic. Drove well, a bit slow but felt comfortable, easy to park and drive. Wonderful car, wish they still made them.
Toyota Yaris or scion xa?
There were a LOT of decent little cars built in the past. Not a lot of power but reliable and fun to drive. Then the execs at the car makers needed to make EVERYTHING performance and hard and over optioned. Gone are "econo boxes". Cheap to buy, reliable, cheap to own and got a million miles per gallon. That's what the honda civic used to be: a little car, well built with few options that lasted forever and drove forever on a gallon of gas.
@@c00lreviews10 It was called Toyota IQ in the UK
Thank you Doug. Great car.
I think the idea of a luxury city car is great. I wonder why there isn't more offer. Now it's mainly electric cars like the Honda E, before it was only the tailor made Smarts, this, the Mini by Goodwood, and the Abarth and Riva Fiat 500. I'm also surprised there isn't more on a slightly bigger scale, the only ones I can think of that could maybe be counted as upmarket are the Mazda 2 (latest gen only though), and Audi A1. But even those (like the Honda E) feel only premium, not really luxury. I wonder why it seems to be so difficult to separate luxury from size, and apparently no one with money wants a small car.
The Toyota iQ also had a 1.4 turbo diesel engine, which was indeed the most economical engine, managing up to 60MPG on country roads. Simply Toyota never did half of the marketing smart did and I believe it was the reason it did not succeed. Much better car than the smart.
More reliable too
Toyota has never really spent Marketing Dollars on any of their small cars (Echo and Yaris), even though some of them were extremely reliable... Its like they didn't want to talk about the "economy cars" that they were selling to hook people to the brand...
I did not know they did a diesel IQ as well! We didn't get it in the UK though
@@misters2837 Yeah I think outside Japan they struggle to increase the premium perception of the brand because they're so large, the economy cars lower the customer perception when at the extreme other end they're producing luxury cars for Japanese CEOs, top government officials, and even the Emperor.
@@G1NZOU CEOs buy S Class mercs instead...or is it just the Yakuza?
7:30 Only if they modified the doors on this car to actually open like their sports car's swan doors. That would've been sweet!
So I just got one that I bought as a gift for my mother but ended up getting back because she couldn't afford having a car and I plan to modify it but of course I have the American version the Scion IQ with the CVT transmission they do have a superchargered version for These 1.3l 4 cylinders that would make that 95 HP jump to 120hp so that's the plan so far it's been hell trying to source that motor let alone a super charger kit but I've found some things so far. 🤣
About the driving experience feeling more luxurious. It is also possible all the added mass of the leather dampens the sound as well.
I live in Wrocław, Poland. It’s relatively large city so you see exotic cars from time to time. But not one of those (not even a Veyron) was so surprising to me as Cygnet. Some local guy daily drove it, parking it near the city center. I always wondered what was the story behind it.
this video sucked. it mentioned every leather trim like it wasnt expected. THE GRAB HANDLES HAVE LEATHER so does the shift gear WE GOT IT.
No one is dumb enough to daily a sports car in a city?
Siemanko
Its (been?) owned by local architect couple. They just wanted some cool, small car for the city traffic.
"One of the stupidest cars of all time." Wholeheartedly agree, Doug.
@Heizou 🅥 r/woooosh,bot.
Of all the Toyota cars to slap some Aston Martin badges on. A Corolla or a Camry would have been a much better choice
@@taelorwatson9822 Probably because it was the smallest engine available. A Camry or Corolla might not’ve gotten them to the average the needed to or they would’ve had to increase their projected sales by a lot.
Lol
not really ztupid coz the point waz to bring down the fleet'z emizzion average. they did exactly that and didn't loze money on making theze. win-win for them!
I love how Doug says *luxury* each and every time.
I often see one in Rosenfeld, Germany. Thought, it would be a simple rebrand, didn't know about price and interior... Will have a closer look next time.
First impression, and this car looks outstanding with that purple color.
@Heizou 🅥 Report this bot
No it doesn't. The only acceptable color for this abomination is British Racing Green.
It looks like a little plum
@@NoName-cn3cp people can have opinions jeez
Lol you actually like the way this car looks? Honestly?
The IQ was meant to seat 1 adult on the driver side and 2 kids in tandem on the passenger side. Knee room was carved out for the front passenger by deleting the glovebox, seen @ 26:00. The seat behind the driver was meant more for handbags/backpacks. This overall laout made the IQ/cygnet much more practical compared to a smart fortwo.
Yes, I'm sure it was marketed as either 1+2 or 2+1 seating arrangement, I don't think I ever saw it described as a 4 seater
2 kids in tandem? What? Is that legal?
Behind the driver would also be suitable for an infant seat, because they need no leg room.
@@questioner1596 oh ok, I was thinking on both children in the passenger seat
It was marketed as a 3+1. You can quite easily fit 3x6ft adults for short journeys.
Fairly sure the back seat in the regular Toyota iQ was more spacious than that, I think Aston Martin might have made some changes there that prioritized the front seats more.
I saw one of these in London in 2012. I think you have to be an Aston Martin Owner to be able to get one of these, particularly the first batches. The weirdest thing I've seen through has been a Range Rover 1996 branded Rolls Royce and completely overhauled. The Driving plate was from the Knights of Malta.
I think you have to be the wife of an Aston Martin owner.
I'd love to know how Aston Martin's designers felt. Just because a car's cheap doesn't mean it isn't thoughtfully engineered. So I wonder what their impression was given their experience.
IQ was designed masterfully. There's plenty of articles and videos showing just how amazing its engineering was, and how much effort went into making it all fit in something this tiny.
Probably better engineered than any Aston at the time.
I’ve been waiting weeks for this review! After seeing his sneak peek in a previous video…
they didn't design it,. toyota did,. and aston slapped an aston martin badge on it,..
@@PresidentCamacho2024 ONE THING ABOUT A TOYOTA, THEY ARE BASICALLY BULLETPROOF. IF TAKEN CARE OF YOU CAN DRIVE ONE ALL YOUR LIFE.
This car is the absolute definition of "malicious compliance," and I am so happy that it exists lmao
The sheer amount of joy in Doug’s voice is such a delight!
Those side scuddles. In my v12 volonte . I acted the amount of heat that came out of them. Especially with the top down.
I wanted one of these the instant I saw the clay model in a magazine. I love city cars and kei cars.
Glad for Torchinsky and Tracy finally doing their own stuff. Jalopnik has been on a down spiral for years.
Yeah. Jalopnik has been trash for quite a while. Tabloid articles and political nonsense.
I jumped ship from jalopnik years ago. I can only imagine how bad it has gotten in the last few years
Doing what where now?
@@mattuw82 what political stuff? I haven’t read it in a bit so idk what your talking about
@@bipbop3121 They started up their own site called Autopian, with a few other people. Full strength car nerd stuff if you like Torch and Tracy.
That was awful brave of Doug to park next to the storm drain during his review. With a slight breeze, the car could have fallen through the grate at any moment.
Amazing comment
Well, at least Aston truely did their best to make it look good.
Toyota Aygo in Europe, made in either Czech republic also marketed as the Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107/8. Gen 2 Aygo etc. did have a nav.
I’m so glad that Doug finally found one of these to review! These little rebadged Toyotas are absolutely hilarious.
I've owned a 2012 Scion iQ for over 10 years now, and have loved every minute of it. Super maneuverable, easy to park, and gets looks everywhere I go.
I do remember reading that while this car shared the platform used for it's Aygo (not the new one) because the Toyota IQ it's even more compact , the space was so scarce that to fit the air conditioner it had to completely redesign the the entire unit to fit it inside (something unheard of for small vehicles and especially for a single vehicle) .
So many cars you've reviewed! Should have added decimal points to the Doug Score ! 😉
So something cool happened and I felt the need to come back to this video (the origin of my knowledge of the Cygnet) to express my excitement: My mother travelled overseas to London and sent me a photo of a "funny looking thing" parked on the street. It was a Cygnet! What are the odds?! Obviously having only learnt about the car less than 2 months ago I was absolutely ecstatic to tell her everything I knew about it. Just thought I'd share :)
That's neat! I never watched this properly the first time, coming back to it finally and it's actually cooler than I thought it would be
I found a Isuzu Vehicross at a local fire department. I've seen two in my entire life now
"We will kill 10 cows just to make a saloon for one low budget ecological car!" Well done, Aston Martin!
They didn't kill the cows. The butcher who cut my steak did. The leather was a bonus :)
Chad Aston Martin.
vegans are cringe
@@insurgentleman have you heard about reasonable consumption, bro?
Q Branch: "How do you feel driving the new car, 007?" Bond: "Shaken, not stirred."
Besides the ridiculous markup in price over a Scion iQ, I really dig this car! It has a beautiful high end interior, the brand recognition of Aston. It's far rarer than almost any car on the road, yet it has the stellar mechanical reliability and economy of a tiny Toyota! Seriously, the only thing missing is the manual tranny and I'd be all over this one. :D
Actually, with an EV drivetrain and a bit more effort put into suspension and steering, the idea of a small city car with an ultra luxurious interior does seem to be able to present a solid business case...
We had two of these, one silver one green. Mum and dad ended up using them a lot driving around London.
Wow awesome information 👏 👍 👌 😀
Finally after all the waiting we get to see easily the best car Doug has reviewed 🙏