For more than half a century, the entertainment industry’s seen a string of one-off cars specially built for screens big and small. Think Barris and Batman. Ford and Thunderbirds. Dodge and The Wraith. Now there’s a new one: Aston Martin and Call Of Duty. Huh?
Yes, Aston Martin has partnered with the franchise that gave you such hits as “No Russian” and incendiary Xbox 360-era lobby chats. Apparently, there’s a new instalment coming out called “Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 4” and it needed a hero car. However, this concept is nothing like a Vantage or even a DBX. It’s a weird SUV for one of the strangest branding tie-ins in modern automotive history.
It’s called the Dreadnought, and it looks a bit like a cross between an Aston Martin Valour and a Toyota FJ Cruiser. Huge, jacked-up, chiseled and brawny, this concept’s a very different beast than what we’ve previously seen from the marque. However, despite playing in a different genre than any other Aston Martin, all the familiar styling cues are here.
Up front, there’s certainly a whiff of the old ’70s Aston Martin V8 to the Dreadnought, what with its hood bulge and outboard headlights and slim signature grille. However, not only has it gone low-poly, but it’s also sporting some off-roady hardware. The most notable addition is the driving lights in front of the upper grille, each featuring a 5×5 grid of LEDs. These lamps naturally draw comparison to Hyundai’s recent pixel detailing, probably not the likeness Aston Martin was looking for. In the event those don’t throw enough light, two more light bars sit above the windscreen. Recovery hooks on the front bumper should be good for a conceptual yank, and there’s plenty of ground clearance for … whatever you’ll be doing in the game.
Around back, the adaptation of styling cues continues with a treatment similar to that of the Victor, standalone LEDs set low beneath a dramatic ducktail. There’s loads of extra sculpting here, from the area scooped out of the tail to the aggressive rear window louvers. Even the flank surfacing is rather severe, emphasizing sharp creases and wide haunches. Also, green. A good shade. Mind you, camera mirrors seem mildly impractical for combat use. Thwack one of the spindly little arms on the move, and there goes some of your situational view.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Dreadnought isn’t a real car in the traditional sense. There’s a model for display to bring this video game creation into the real world, but that’s about it. Think of it as the much more bizarre cousin of one of those Vision Gran Turismo concepts, and you’re on the right track. While this brand partnership doesn’t seem obvious, it’s resulted in something unusual and wheeled. Hey, it’s far more elaborate than the Jeep Wrangler Call Of Duty: MW3 Edition.
Top graphic image: Aston Martin
Ugly as hell
Since Call of Duty has become “Hollywood Action Movie: The Game”, it’s at least fitting if you don’t take it too seriously. Can’t wait to also see this in the next Fast & Furious installment, might need a 4 door version for all that family lol.
Who. F’ing. Cares.
Even as a fake proof-of-concept it looks bad. Does Aston Martin know how to style a vehicle anymore? Their current vehicles look like cheap Chinese EVs. European car makers are having a styling emergency. The Brits, Germans, Italians DO NOT know how to make stylish cars – they have lose all sense given what they make.
What Aston Martin made looks like a bad knock-off of the vehicle in the video game Halo, so it is 25 years out of date!
I feel like you mighta misspelled ‘stupid’.
Is anyone else unable to see anything but a Robotized Goofy Head? A-hyuck.
lowkey, this could be a kit if they actually put it into limited production. It’s basically a cooler-looking G-wagon.
I’ll bet this goes real hard if you’re stupid.
Being hard and stupid is what got me into a lot of entanglements in my youth.
Looks like a front clip from a 2013-14 Mustang GT.
As is traditional: Aston Martin aping Mustangs
If they took these general proportions and shape but applied the same styling language as they do on their road cars, I could see this being the first exotic car company SUV I lust after.
Seems like all of the British automakers have gone off the deep and and no longer make cars. They make non-existent fever dream concept sketches of cars that absolutely don’t look like the brands they are supposedly representing. This thing looks like some AI bullshit someone conjured up.
This would sell better than the Jaguar type 01
Low bar. Also, 100 percent correct.
Please do NOT put this into FH6, Microsoft. This franchise doesn’t need any recognition and you already have the Warthog in there anyway for a scifi pseudo-military offroader.
I agree, but the fact that the Warthog is present, plus all the offroad/cross-country races means there’s a high chance it shows up in FH6.
Yes, I know. They did it with Fallout, too. That wasn’t even offroady.
For when ya got a REAL big wiener and ya drive around town.
It looks like a big cat, like a puma.
I thought the same thing. Back in the day, I was such a fan I even bought the “my other car is a puma” bumper sticker for my Saturn. I’m not sure anyone ever understood the reference.
Quit making up animals!