The 2020 Aston Martin DBX SUV Prototype Photos Are Out
We now know about the long-awaited Aston crossover, including when it will start reaching customers.
Aston Martin has taken a long and bumpy road to the creation of its first SUV, an idea it first floated with the less than gainly Lagonda concept as long ago as 2009. We're not at the end of the track yet, but the company has shared a collection of images of a disguised prototype of its forthcoming model, while also confirming that the production car will keep the DBX name, which was used for the concept that previewed it at the Geneva auto show in 2015.
Yes, it will stick with Aston's trademark radiator grille shape, although we're hoping the test mule's contrast high-visibility edge won't come as standard.
We're told this disguised version was photographed on a rally stage in a Welsh forest, where Aston's chief test engineer, Matt Becker, has been part of a team putting it through its paces; you can actually see that he's driving in the pictures featuring some opposite lock.
The rear screen sits at a very shallow angle compared to the SUV norm, with the tailgate seeming to incorporate a shaped wing element beneath it.
Becker has previously said that the car will have both air suspension and some form of active anti-roll system to help manage its mass and raised center of gravity.
Fortunately, C/D is able to add some more details about what to expect based on previous conversations with senior Aston executives—including the most senior of all, company CEO Andy Palmer, who told us earlier in the year that the finished car will be offered with a range of powerplants, including hybrid and eventually EV versions.
There are many more secrets to come, of course—and we can safely predict that Aston's publicity machine will deliver them in drips rather than torrents.
Palmer dropped some broad hints that he would like to see Aston's twin-turbocharged V-12 engine ultimately made to fit, but we believe that the DBX will launch with engines drawn from Aston's existing technical partnership with Mercedes-Benz: likely the AMG 4.0-liter V-8 that already powers the Vantage and junior DB11 sports cars.
Beneath the prototype's dazzling disguise, it is clear that it sits close to the road surface, with most of the car's height in its bodywork.
Other design details are only partly revealed under the disguise cladding. There's an Aston-appropriate musculature to the rear wheel arches, but the DBX seems set to do without the air vent that is set into the front wings of the Vantage, DB11, and DBS Superleggera.
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