Aston Martin, the company behind James Bond's whip, has partnered with Triton Submarines
on a submersible concept called "Project Neptune" for incredibly
well-heeled folks.
It's the first design from Aston Martin Consulting,
recently formed to design and market things to oil barons and Silicon
Valley types with nothing else to spend their cash on. The platform is
based on Triton's 1650/3 LP (low-profile) sub, but Aston Martin says it will be a "strictly-limited edition vehicle."
The 1650/3 LP three-place vehicle is described as a "super-yacht" sub, which is apparently all the rage among the ultra-wealthy. And marketing images
show supermodels using the remote arm to grasp an underwater bottle of
champagne. The price for that model starts at a cool $3.3 million, but
expect a massive mark-up from Aston Martin for what is, admittedly, a
much cooler design.
Aston
Martin has also broken out the rich-dude marketing talk. "Project
Neptune is defined by its sleek, elegant exterior," said VP and Chief
Creative Officer Marek Reichman. "We have used forms and proportions
that express the same devotion to design, engineering and beauty that
shape our cars." Triton also uses words like "passion," "timeless" and
"truly exciting," denoting that this thing will cost a fortune.
Still,
that talk is likely backed up by some serious performance. You'd be
able to take "Project Neptune" down to 500 meters (1,650 feet) and run
for 12 hours, if it keeps the specs of Triton's 1650/3 LP sub. (Triton
also makes a sub that can go down to the Marianna Trench at 36,000 feet.)
Anyway,
for now it's just a design, but we're certainly curious to see the
concept sub. Perhaps Aston Martin will break it out in a new Bond film?
It's no Lotus, but it'll have to do.
Diane Nelson serves as President of DC Leisure (DCE) and President of Warner Bros.
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