Got the DB11? Now own the submarine: Aston Martin's new Project Neptune
It’s almost certainly the slowest vehicle ever to wear an Aston Martin badge but, capable as it is of descending 500m (1600ft) below the surface of the ocean it’s almost certainly the coolest also. Literally. This is project Neptune, a joint venture between Triton - purveyors of private submarines to the world’s super-wealthy and the odd latter-day Jacques Cousteau - and Aston Martin, purveyors of… well I hardly need to say.
Aston Martin is rampant right now, chasing its stated aim not just to be the equal of Ferrari (on Monday it announced it was to become the title partner of Red Bull Racing in F1), but also to be considered one of the world’s great luxury businesses. It was with the later aim in mind it established Aston Martin Consulting 18 months ago with an aim to selling the company’s expertise in design and performance engineering, ideally to companies with an equally luxurious offering.
The first bi-product was the AM37, a 3.7-metre, 1000bhp powerboat capable of over 57mph produced in collaboration with Quintessence Yachts and naval architects Mulder Design, both based in Holland. That was launched at last year’s Monaco Yacht Show and project Neptune makes its debut there this morning, appropriately enough.
Since 2007 Triton Submarines of Vero Beach, Florida has pioneered the sale of million-dollar personal submarines to the ever-growing - in both senses - global fleet of super yachts. Beyond jet-skis and, size permitting, helicopter pads, a private sub has become the must-have accessory.
Project Neptune is based on Triton’s 1650/3 ‘low profile’ (for discreet storage so as not to spoil a super yacht’s clean lines) three-seater. It’s battery-powered and can carry enough oxygen for a 12-hour dive. Passengers breath normally in the air conditioned environment and get to enjoy quite remarkable views from inside the Triton’s enormous transparent acrylic bubble. It’s just under six-feet tall and weighs around four tonnes.
Aston Martin Consulting’s work has been lead by the company’s unstoppable VP and Chief Creative Officer, Sheffield-born Marek Reichman. Under Reichman’s guidance the 1650/3 has morphed from something you might well have seen on the deck of Cousteau’s Calypso into to something….like an Aston Martin for the life (sub) aquatic. It is, says Reichman; “defined by its sleek, elegant exterior. We have used forms and proportions that express the same devotion to design, engineering and beauty that shape our cars, such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar project.”
Valkyrie is another Aston Martin collaboration, this time with design and engineering genius Adrian Newey, the most successful engineer in Formula One yet and also the chief technical officer of Aston’s new F1 partners, Red Bull Racing. Valkyrie is - aerodynamically speaking - the most advanced road car yet conceived, capable of lapping Silverstone as quickly as an F1 car. Just 150 will be built and each will reach over 250mph. They’re all sold for somewhere north of ￡2.5million, likely to be less that the ￡3 million cost of the Neptune, which will reach just over three miles per hour. But you’ll have distinctly more incredible views, we’ll wager.