Few cars attract attention like an Aston Martin – but nothing excites a car enthusiast like a no-holds-barred Aston roadster. This surprise concept is destined for the Geneva Motor Show at the end of the month, and is the work of respected Italian styling consultancy Italdesign-Giugiaro.
Called the Twenty Twenty, the extreme-looking two-seater has been given the official blessing of Aston Martin's management, with the aim of predicting how a 'Spider' model may look in the year 2020.
It has been built around the acclaimed V12 powertrain from the DB7 Vantage, and explores new trends in aluminium chassis and load-bearing structure design. That's the reason for the wild exposed framework which supports the carbon fibre bodywork and suspension. Aston's director of communications Tim Watson told Auto Express the Newport Pagnell-based firm was only too happy to get involved with Italdesign-Giugiaro. "We were flattered to be approached by people of their standing. It shows that today we really are on an equal footing with the likes of Ferrari," he said.
The British company went out of its way to help the creative team from the styling studio. It handed over a brand new DB7 and a host of technology, as well as lending expert knowledge about aluminium construction, which features on its latest Vanquish supercar. The result is the running prototype seen here.
Powered by a 400bhp V12 driving the rear wheels, the Twenty Twenty would bring a new dimension to the Aston driving experience. A true wind-in-the-hair roadster, it would be a "hedonistic, uncompromising driver's car", according to Fabrizio Giugiaro. The link-up between the companies has been forged by the car maker's current chief executive Ulrich Bez. As head of product design at Daewoo, he commissioned Italdesign to create the Matiz.
Giugiaro continued: "The idea for the exposed spaceframe structure came to us after the Paris Motor Show last year, and we then approached Ulrich Bez. He was keen, and pointed us towards incorporating more obvious Aston design themes." Interestingly, rumours have been circulating regarding Italdesign's potential involvement with the prestige car firm's forthcoming small model. The best of Italdesign's proposals could be borrowed by Aston's in-house styling team, headed up by Ian Callum. He has been following the Twenty Twenty's progress throughout the design process, and is said to be interested in one or two ideas which could be considered for future production models.
However, when asked whether the Twenty Twenty would see the light of day, perhaps as a low-volume one-off machine to rival the Ferrari Rossa by Pininfarina, the idea was immediately quashed by Aston. "This is not the DB8 or the next Aston Martin," said Tim Watson. "This is about encouraging experimentation and brave design."