Car reviews 2011: Aston Martin and Parisian Fashion House Colette Team to Produce Limited-Edition Cygnet; It Has Throw Pillows

Friday, June 24, 2011

Aston Martin and Parisian Fashion House Colette Team to Produce Limited-Edition Cygnet; It Has Throw Pillows

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That Aston Martin's Toyota iQ–based Cygnet city car exists at all is still utterly bizarre—corporate average fuel economy standards or not—but now Aston has released a special-edition model trimmed by Parisian fashion anchor Colette, and it practically rolls our eyes for us. The Cygnet & Colette edition is slathered in silver paint with blue highlights. Pushing the boundaries of the use of the term "race-inspired," the grille and wheels are outlined in blue, while the hood gets a stripe that Aston refers to as "bonnet livery." The interior is upholstered in Bitter Chocolate in a nod to Colette's mascot, a chocolate Labrador named Oscar. The quilted brown leather has contrasting blue and white stitching, the interior grab handles are embossed leather, and the door-handle badges are handformed stainless-steel pieces. If you've jumped ahead to peruse the gallery below, yes, those are actually matching blue quilted throw pillows you see in the back seat. We still aren’t sure whether we’re more puzzled by the pillows themselves or that Aston expects actual people to occupy the Cygnet’s micro rear seat. To ensure drivers don't forget their unique city car's Colette connection, "Cygnet & Colette" appears on a decklid badge, on the car's machined-aluminum key ring, and on the navigation screen on startup.

The Cygnet & Colette edition is handcrafted through the Aston Martin Works Tailored program, which allows customers to extensively personalize their Astons from the factory. The Colette-branded Cygnet is the first in a series of "Cygnet &" editions that Aston Martin will release in collaboration with other brands, and just 14 of the Colette editions will be available through the Colette store in Paris. Pricing for the special Cygnet starts at $69,401 at current exchange rates, which is about $68,401 more than we’d offer.

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