Aston Martin today revealed its designs on pushing its range far-beyond James Bond’s favourite gadget-laden cars – by revealing plans for a multi-million-pound hi-tech submarine worthy of 007, The Daily Mail reports.
And in a tongue-in-cheek riposte to Sir James Dyson’s plans for a ‘radical’ new electric car – for which he has been poaching top Aston Martin engineers and managers – the firm’s boss also unveiled a design for an Aston Martin vacuum cleaner.
The submarine venture, code-named ‘Project Neptune’, in collaboration with underwater specialists Triton, is the precursor to an ‘exclusive, strictly-limited edition submersible’ for the super-rich.
Aston Martin says the radical submarine’s styling has been heavily influence by its 200mph-plus Valkyrie ‘hypercar’.
Although no prices have been announced, it is expected that the new Aston Martin submarine will cost between £3 million and £4 million ($4 million to $5.35 million).
The submersible will have a top speed of – equivalent to a brisk walking pace – and can reach depths of 1,639 feet (500m).
It will accommodate three people: ‘Room for James Bond and two Bond girls,’ said one cheeky insider.
That compares with £1.2 million ($1.6 million) for the 37-foot (11.3m) AM37 power boat, whose first customers are taking delivery now.
A limited run of 175 Valkyries are being constructed – 25 for track use only and 150 for the road – each with a price-tag of £2.5 million ($3.34 million).
It is set to perform faster than an F1 car around Silverstone with blistering acceleration from rest to 60mph (96kph) in under three seconds.
It is the first project undertaken by the car-firm’s new design arm called Aston Martin Consulting.
The firm said its innovative design ‘marries expertise from the luxury automotive and marine worlds.’
The car-firm, based at Gaydon in Warwickshire, said: ‘Aston Martin is proud to announce a creative collaboration with Triton Submarines LLC, the acclaimed manufacturer of state–of-the-art submersibles.
