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Comment by kempbellt | Hacker News Reader

57k seems a bit steep for an Aston Martin product that doesn't actually drive you anywhere. Fancy looking as it may be, I don't see how any enthusiast can't make a similar or better version of this.

Unless there is something I'm missing, this product doesn't add any real value over any other sims besides the brand's "cool" value and a sleek snowmobile looking design.

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Sounds like something "influencers" and racing drivers will get for promotional reason and a handful of FU money holders will buy. But I wouldn't be surprised if the units produced stayed in the double to low triple digits.

For that price, you can buy a mid-spec hydraulic racing simulator from VRX. They even offer custom wraps, so you can get an Aston Martin themed model in British Racing Green.

Aston Martin is the car maker that rebadged a Toyota iQ as the "Cygnet", so that their sports car customers could have an fuel efficient vehicle for city driving. I gather the theory was some European cities restrict what cars can enter based on emissions. They maybe were imagining it sort of like a yacht tender.

Anyway, it was basically a cubic Toyota, for three times the usual price. They didn't sell many.

I swear that, at one point, the Cygnet was included "free" with the purchase of another Aston, maybe the V12 Vanquish or DBS, in an effort to improve the company's emissions average. I remember this being in the news back when the Cygnet was released, but I can't find any references to this anywhere.

Basically entirely bought and rebadged just to "allow Aston Martin to comply with the European Union’s fleet average emissions standards to take place in 2012." [1]

[1]: https://3automotive.wordpress.com/2011/01/26/1183/

If you can network it, the obvious next step is to make a spec racing series and now you've got great marketing for Aston Martin and COVID-friendly entertainment that can be streamed or aired on cable channels.

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