This is the first glimpse of a new concept from Aston Martin. They’re calling it the ‘Cygnet’.

I so wish this was April 1st.

Unfortunately, we’re not kidding and neither are they. The Cygnet may well be a concept car, but there are plans to put it into production by next year. All of Aston Martin’s cars have had benchmarker rivals against which they competed. Porsche 911, Ferrari 360, Maserati GT, etc. This one is based around the Toyota iQ.

You might laugh, but it’s actually very sensible and a very difficult competitor for Aston Martin. As such, Aston Martin are doing things properly. That means no, it won’t come with their 4.0L V8, and forget about a 6.0L V12. Expect a 1.3L 4-cylinder engine. And whilst the expected price for this is obviously going to be a lot more than a Toyota iQ (which retails at about £10k), it’s very reasonable for a car with Aston Martin’s badge. About £20k. Double the iQ, but a hundred times more prestigious.

The Cygnet will have all the usual Aston Martin trimmings. You get their signature front grille, you get the bonnet vents from the DBS, AM’s alloy wheels, and even the Pirelli tyres custom made specially for Aston Martins. And of course, expect the interior to be very ‘Aston Martin’, loaded with plush leather and generally very luxurious.

So a small, nippy, economical Aston Martin for the same price as a VW Golf. There’s got to be a catch, surely? Well er, yes. If you think this is going to be a cheap ticket into Aston Martin ownership, think again - this will only be on sale to existing Aston Martin customers; the idea being that this is a small, economical city runabout so that Aston Martin owners don’t have to squeeze through City Centre in their big, showy, gas guzzling supercars.

This is not the first time this has happened. About a year ago Ferrari too made a hatchback based on the Fiat 500. It got the Maranello paint job, cream leather interior, etc etc, but was only available as a courtesy car for existing Ferrari customers to use whilst their real Ferrari was being repaired or serviced. What’s next? A Porsche based on a Smart ForTwo? A Corvette based on a Chevrolet Matiz?

I hope so. Because the good thing about this is one day we’ll see these exclusive cars on sale in an Autotrader mag.