HOLY Neptune! Who’d have linked Aston Martin to submarines?
But the famous Brit luxury and competition car maker has just announced it has completed the design for a $4 million submersible vehicle.
It’s called Project Neptune and will be built with Triton Submarines. The two have worked together since last year to design and engineer the submersible which doesn’t resemble any earlier Aston Martin.
The vessel has been designed for a pilot and two passengers and is described as a luxurious, limited edition.
Designing the interior was a challenge, Aston Martin chief creative officer Marek Reichman said.
“Unlike a sports car where the interiors are installed into an open-sided cabin before the doors are fitted, everything you see inside will be lowered through the upper-hatch and assembled within the completed sphere of the pressure hull,” he said.
“The exterior design owes a lot to the pursuit of performance.
“As with the Aston Martin Valkyrie, we have afforded as much attention to the hydrodynamics of the underside as we have the visible surfaces.
“Some of the detail may never be seen, but its effect wil certainly be felt.”
In the end, designers were able to create a cohesive cabin that foregoes complexity in favour of luxury.
Aston Martin’s Q division will handle any buyer customising quirks.
Standard interior appointments include leather-panelled seats with the prestigious Aston Martin logos embossed in the headrests and the cabin is of carbon fibre.
Performance specifications include underwater speeds of “faster than 5 knots” which is said to be somewhat quicker than Triton’s current flagship submarine and the design gurus of both Aston Martin and Triton say they spent a lot of energy working to improve the vehicle’s hydrodynamic efficiency by shortening the frontal area.
There’s been no mention of price, and what the demand for such vessels is remains questionable.
But potential buyers and keen observers of maritime life will be delighted to know the Project Neptune “offers nearly 360-degree views” well, 359 degrees then, and “combines beauty and elegance with a safe, reliable design.’