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Four years on, does anyone remember this micro car with a massive naturally aspirated V8!

Think of Aston Martin - what springs to mind; James Bond? Valkyrie? Vantage? DBS? What if I mentioned a little micro city car manufactured by the iconic luxury British sports car specialist. You'd be forgiven for feeling clueless. All hail the Aston Martin Cygnet. Remember? A souped up Toyota iQ, sporting a DB9 like grille, launched in 2011.

With production halted circa 150 units, on account of measly appeal rather than a limited series run, the Cygnet was primarily launched to lower Aston's average emissions per car as required by the European emission regulations. Critics branded the Cygnet as 'OTT' and an April fool PR stunt turned real. This didn't stop the crazy engineers from the Gaydon Q Division from tampering with it in conjunction to a Vantage S. And born was the extortionate V8 Cygnet. A little Japanese micro city car, with an Aston Martin badge, but with a brand correct V8, that's your call...

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Engineers, as they would, realized the Cygnet could accompany the raucous 430 horsepower 4.7 liter V8 from the previous generation V8 Vantage S. The project was dismissed however, for being overly outlandish - which is a fair point considering the low demand for the standard Cygnet.

But when a loyal collector heard of the V8 Cygnet (and was willing to fund, of course), the project once again gained traction to produce the most exclusive of cars, a true one of one. 10 months, two Cygnet shells (left over from original development) and one V8 Vantage engine later, the V8 Cygnet came to life.

The original 97 horsepower 1.3-liter inline four driving the front wheels was upgraded to a 4.7-liter naturally aspirated V8 producing 430 horses and 361 lb ft of torques. To accompany the V8 and new radiator, the Cygnet makes use of the previous Vantage's subframes, whilst the bulkhead retreats by a foot. The gearbox is also borrowed from the previous Vantage (a common theme now), hence a seven speed automated 'sportshift II' manual transmission. Aston Martin says 'power is transferred via a miniature torque tube' to rear wheels, which are also aided by a needed limited slip differential.

To accommodate the newer wider tracks for increased stability, both front and rear, Aston Martin have added flared out carbon composite wheel arches which can house larger wheels - specifically 19-inches (an increase of 3-inches from the standard Cygnet) forged five spoke diamond cut wheels - wrapped in 275/35 on the rear and 235/40 at the front from Bridgestone. Suspension impressively features 'independent double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bars and passive dampers' for both front and rear.

A distinguishable feature of the V8 Cygnet is undoubtedly the central twin pipes rarely seen nowadays. Of course this is a bespoke system in house from Aston with 'twin underfloor mufflers and catalytic converters'; and with a uniquely short distance from manifold to tail pipe the V8 Cygnet is sure to surprise literally anyone.

Weighing just 3031 lbs when road ready the V8 Cygnet has an insane power to weight ratio. Understandably the result is faster acceleration than the V8 Vantage S with 0-60 mph taking only 4.2 seconds and will go all the way up to 170 mph - yikes - 60 mph more than the standard Cygnet, and more than the majority of cars on the road.

High speeds require quality braking and Aston take care of this - 380 mm discs are clamped by six-piston monoblock calipers at the front and 330mm discs gripped by four-piston mono block calipers at the rear. All calipers are painted in a bright yellow to greatly contrast the Buckinghamshire green bodywork. Many components of the braking system are also taken from the Vantage as with the whole car.

Interior designers on V8 Cygnet have retained enough space for comfortable seating despite the fitting of a V8. The cabin loses the shared iQ layout for a pair a racy fixed Recaro buckets mounted in an exposed roll cage. Maintaining the Aston Martin package is a carbon fiber trimmed dashboard, leather pull straps, carbon door cards and predictably, Vantage instruments in all places possible.

Track ready, the V8 Cygnet features a relocated firewall (giving an annoying but true-to-itself offset driving position), FIA compliant extinguisher, 4 point harnesses and removable Alcantara steering wheel to mention a few; evidently making the V8 Cygnet a true track menace.

Four years on, the V8 Cygnet is still a piece of groundbreaking engineering and a guaranteed future classic. It really does epitomize the 'pocket rocket' concept and has perhaps inspired a recent offshoot of powerful compact cars, namely the GR Yaris...

Adam Lorgat writes from England. Porsche enthusiast covering the purist side of the thing. Nice.