Aston Martin has created a military-grade SUV – but only for a computer game

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Aston Martin is best known for creating beautiful sports cars for James Bond that appear inconspicuous to the untrained eye but are laden with gadgets to aid the secret agent’s latest high-stakes mission.

The company’s latest vehicle couldn’t be any more different to that.

The Dreadnought is an unhinged military-grade 4×4 with masses of ground clearance, enormous knobbly tyres, brighter LEDs than Piccadilly Circus, a cloak of body armour and a potent V12 engine at its heart.

Yet, you’ll never see one on the road. Nor a battlefield.

That’s because it’s been digitally generated in a partnership with the immensely popular shoot-’em-up game series, Call of Duty.

However, the Gaydon carmaker has produced a full-scale rolling model, which debuted this week at the popular Fanatics Fest sports memorabilia convention in New York.

Aston Martin's new SUV isn't for the school run: The Dreadnought is a crazed military-grade 4x4 that's been digitally created to appear in the new Call of Duty computer game

Aston Martin’s new SUV isn’t for the school run: The Dreadnought is a crazed military-grade 4×4 that’s been digitally created to appear in the new Call of Duty computer game

Set to appear in the upcoming Modern Warfare 4 game, the British car manufacturer calls it a ‘digital-only military-specification vehicle’. And it makes Aston’s luxury-performance DBX SUV look about as tame as a Nissan Qashqai.

Designers say it is an ‘unapologetic, uncompromising tactical all-wheel-drive SUV’ that carries the ‘roar of a full-blooded, V12-powered Aston Martin’.

To us, it looks like a seventies V8 Vantage pumped full of anabolics. 

The company says it combines supercar levels of performance from its ‘optimised aerodynamics’ but also shields its occupants using advanced armour technologies and can strike an attack with its ‘fully integrated digital command interfaces’.

Under its bulletproof shell are reserve fuel tanks and bespoke weapons-storage compartments.

Inside, the door cards double as an assault-rifle rack, while what look like cupholders in the centre console are, in fact, grenade holders.

Yet, despite its looks being a significant departure from what Aston Martin is famed for, there are still elements that speak to the 113-year-old brand’s high-end heritage.

The British car manufacturer calls Dreadnought a 'digital-only military-specification vehicle'
It makes Aston's luxury-performance DBX SUV (piciured) look about as tame as a Nissan Qashqai
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The British car manufacturer calls Dreadnought a ‘digital-only military-specification vehicle’. It makes Aston’s luxury-performance DBX SUV (right) look about as tame as a Nissan Qashqai

The rolling scale model has masses of ground clearance, enormous knobbly tyres, brighter LEDs than Piccadilly Circus, a cloak of body armour and a potent V12 engine at its heart

The rolling scale model has masses of ground clearance, enormous knobbly tyres, brighter LEDs than Piccadilly Circus, a cloak of body armour and a potent V12 engine at its heart

Aston Martin says it has supercar levels of performance but also shields occupants using advanced armour technologies
It can strike attacks too using its 'fully integrated digital command interfaces'

Aston Martin says it has supercar levels of performance but also shields occupants using advanced armour technologies

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For a vehicle designed to transport fictional gun-toting mavericks into the most dangerous warzones, it still has the company’s iconic Chiltern Green paint, a herringbone weave in the exterior carbon fibre and Oxford Tan leather dashboard.

Even the gear lever is metallic gold in a nod to the brand’s opulence.

What’s in the name? By dictionary definition, it means ‘fear nothing’. However, it’s also a nod to the early 20th-century British warship HMS Dreadnought, which was so revolutionary in terms of her armament and propulsion that she coined an entirely new class of warship, defining global naval military ambition in the early 1900s.

Commenting on the debut of Dreadnought, Aston Martin chief creative officer Marek Reichman said: ‘The team have hugely enjoyed the not inconsiderable challenge of redefining what an Aston Martin can be when the only limit is imagination.

‘To create the ultimate exotic off-road machine, I had to imagine Dreadnought not only as a digital asset, but as a vehicle living in the real world – navigating the streets of New York, powering through the monsoon-soaked roads of Mumbai, and performing with complete authenticity in every environment.

‘That vision allowed us to create something that feels genuinely real, even within the immersive world of the game.’

Inside, the door cards double as an assault-rifle rack, while what look like cupholders in the centre console are, in fact, grenade holders

Inside, the door cards double as an assault-rifle rack, while what look like cupholders in the centre console are, in fact, grenade holders

Despite its military features, there's still something very upmarket about the creation - including its gold accents and Oxford Tan leather dashboard

Despite its military features, there’s still something very upmarket about the creation – including its gold accents and Oxford Tan leather dashboard

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But this is more than just a fancy creation to appease the request of one of the biggest names in the gaming world.

Aston Martin’s director of brand diversification, Stefano Saporetti, says it is ‘expanding the brand’s footprint’ to ‘engage with a new generation on their own terms’.

He adds: ‘The Dreadnought isn’t just a digital vehicle; it’s a strategic gateway for a younger, global audience to experience our ultra-luxury DNA.

‘By pushing the boundaries of virtual engineering, we are ensuring that the spirit of Aston Martin resonates powerfully with the luxury consumers of tomorrow.’

So, would it ever become a reality?

Given that the British car firm has produced a full-size model, potentially yes. 

Should one of its highest regarded clients with incredibly deep pockets request one, Aston Martin could, in theory, make it a reality. 




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