It is impossible to understand what the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde represents. OK, OK, OK… OK, I get it. It celebrates the Anglo-French collaboration that resulted in the supersonic passenger jet, Concorde. So says Aston Martin. Concorde went into commercial operations in 1976 and was decommissioned in 2003 following safety concerns. By then, it had run past its service life. The supersonic jet could travel at Mach 2.04 (1,354 mph) but only had seating for up to 128 passengers. And only the very rich of society could afford to buy a ticket, a flight from London to New York could be done in 3 hours.
Concorde cost £1.3bn to develop, that’s £7.67bn in today’s money. So Concorde was expensive to make and expensive to fly in. An Aston Martin is expensive to make and expensive to buy. And expensive to drive. And expensive to own. The DBS Superleggera is a DB11 on steroids, a performance variant, not that the standard DB11 is short on power. It starts from £225,000 and for that, you get a 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 with 715bhp and 900Nm of torque. Top speed, 0-62mph blah, blah, blah.
On top of the fancy dan name, you also get a fancy clad exterior unique to the DBS and of course that Italian name tag, Superleggera (superlight). Ironically the DBS is anything but light, 1,693kg is rather portly for a so-called superlight supercar. Only 10 DBS Superleggera Concorde special editions will ever be made. And that’s the best thing about this makeover.
If the DBS Superleggera Concorde Special Edition is about celebrating Anglo-French co-operation, why no references to the French? The exception being the name, Concorde is derived from “old-French”. As you know it means agreement. But why, why, WHY! no references to our French brothers and sisters?
You know how easily insulted the French can get and one can understand why. The British can be so pompous and arrogant and it’s on display with the DBS Superleggera. But that’s not the problem. The problem we have with this DBS Superleggera is that it is simply window dressing.
This Aston Martin special edition is meant to showcase Q by Aston Martin, the company’s bespoke division where customers can request unique, personalized commissions. Q by Aston Martin is meant to be about traditional craftsmanship, and it should be a celebration of age-old techniques in an automated-robotized world. This Special Editon Aston Martin doesn’t cut it.
Sure we can appreciate the craftsmanship but it is a lipstick and foundation makeover, thoughtless, arrogant, odd more product marketing inspired than inspiring. And that’s why the Aston Martin DBS Superleggera Concorde Special Edition is the worst car of the week.
