When you think about an Aston Martin, you generally think of something sleek and refined. And when you think of an American hot rod, you think of something brash and loud. And if you put the two ideas together, you get this: an Aston Martin hot rod.
This Aston Martin MK-IV, sadly, only exists as a rendering for now. It was created by Benjamin McKee, the owner of One Off Effects, which is an industrial design and film prop fabrication company based in Oxnard, California. McKee has always loved the hot rod aesthetic and he imagined what it would be like if one were driven by a furious Aston Martin 6.0-liter V12.
Aston Martin DB9s have been falling in price, so McKee doesn’t think it would be terribly hard to pick one up—even a wrecked one—as a donor car, as long as the engine was intact. From there, he’d pull the body parts off and add some of his own, bringing the creation to life. He said that his shop is already set up to build such a thing.
McKee’s car would have the looks of something from the ‘30s or ‘40s, but drive like something from today. And because he’s based in Southern California, he knows that typical supercars like Ferraris and Lamborghini are a dime a dozen. If someone wanted some really custom, they could ostensibly cast their sights in the direction of an Aston Martin hot rod.
I remarked that his idea made him sound a little bit like the Singer Vehicle Design of Aston Martin.
McKee didn’t totally agree. “Everyone likes the Singer,” he said. “Let’s make something that some people are going to like but other people are going to hate,” he said.
What do you think? Do you hate it or love it? You can cast your vote for it for the Core77 Design Awards 2018 here.