What if Aston Martin built a tactical AWD SUV?
Meet the Dreadnought, a V12-powered answer to all your DMZ transport problems...
From a distance, it has been fascinating to consider the slowly turning cogs of the MOD’s effort to replace its enormous fleet of aged Land Rovers - not least because it’s fun to imagine what today’s SUVs and/or pickups would look like when garbed in British Army woodland camouflage. Of course, one OEM we had not considered is Aston Martin; mostly because it spends its weekdays drawing supercars, not lightweight APCs.
But we were reminded earlier this week that AM possesses arguably the most elastic brand in the UK; no one, it seems, blinks an eye that it simultaneously produces a track-focused hypercar, a mid-engined supercar, several front-engined super GTs, and, lest we forget, a luxury SUV. Nevertheless, we did blink several times, at great speed and in quick succession, when the spectacle that is the Aston Martin Dreadnought dropped into the PH inbox.
Granted, it is not real. The car has been designed exclusively for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4. Nevertheless, as Aston itself points out, working ‘without the restraints of the physical world’, is typically a fun endeavour for a design team, especially one as multi-talented as the team at Gaydon. The only limit here, according to Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichmann, was their collective imagination when it came to the job of redefining what an Aston could be.
No surprise then that what's resulted is V12-powered (obvs), features ‘advanced armour technologies and adaptive combat zone intelligence systems’ and yet somehow still manages to doff its cap to Aston’s ‘high luxury heritage’. Check out, for example, the herringbone weave of the carbon fibre and the Oxford Tan leather dashboard and door panels. And the metallic gold gear lever. Not exactly Bravo Two Zero-spec - but very on brand.
“To me, Dreadnought is unmistakably an Aston Martin – amplified without restraint,” noted Reichmann. “Features as diverse as the carbon fibre chassis right through to exquisite elements such as the door hinges in anodised Satin Gold, reflect our real-world determination to be the most desirable ultra-luxury brand in the automotive sector, and beyond.”
Even the name rings true. ‘Dreadnought’ naturally refers to HMS Dreadnought, the British warship that proved so revolutionary for its time that it coined the description for an entire subsequent naval class. Its namesake probably won’t achieve quite such a significant place in the history books, but fans attending the Fanatics Fest in New York will get the opportunity to see a full-size model - and everyone else, come October 23rd, will be able to find it in ‘key points of interest’ in the DMZ and Warzone modes. The MOD, sadly, will have to continue its search elsewhere…
BUILD IT!
BUILD IT!
Or, build something that certainly carries over a lot of the styling cues, but with a lower floor and more sensible wheels. The DBX is I'm certain a wonderful thing, but it is anonymous - the kiss of death in a market which generally thrives on status. If they could make this on the DBX platform and price it against the Urus, that could really take the fight to the market.
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