May 12: What's next? A sport ute from Aston Martin?

 Aston Martin. Just say the name and one immediately conjures up images of that super spy, James Bond, suavely driving up to a casino in Monte Carlo or using the skills of the very best race car drivers, to get away from the super bad guys. Without the JB connection, I even wonder if Aston would have survived the turbulent '70's and '80's, which were so unkind to a variety of British makes, sportscars and otherwise.

But there is another image that crosses my mind, when I think of this iconic brand. I can't think of another make that, has lent itself to so many versions of a station wagon, as has Aston Martin. From the '60's to the present day, design houses and Aston itself, have created wagons or more properly, shooting brakes, from these great looking rides.

These designs below are typical of what was produced in limited numbers by the coach builders. But why Aston Martin?

Why does this brand lend itself to this type of body work as opposed to say, Jaguar? Good question and I have no idea why, but what was a tradition in the early days, has continued for many years, as this more recent dark blue example below, from Britain's Roos Engineering clearly shows.

 Even the Italian design house Bertone created their own version of a more practical Aston Martin........

Their vision was crafted from the Rapide four door sedan. Looks great, but why Aston? Ever see a Porsche version like this? Neither have I.

But these days, the manufacturers are making their own variations of just about every conceivable body style. So why not cash in? The big craze (and maybe it's not a craze) is to have a sport ute in your line. Bentley is doing one. So is Lamborghini. And dare I say it, Ferrari has mentioned it as a possibility. Not to be left out, Aston trotted their own rendition out to the auto show crowds two or three years ago.......

Yes, you are correct, it was universally panned. How could something so ugly come from the folks, who have penned some of the most automobile beautiful designs? Another good question. But you can't keep a good(?) idea down, so it was recently announced that Aston was going ahead with a car based on their DBX concept. And just in case you were wondering about what car to buy four years down the road, AM has said it will produce this model in 2019.

Their suv will, of course, ride higher, but will have only two doors and, thank goodness, a design that is Aston-like. If you are going to join the crowd, might as well do it your way and do it quite well (and a little bit different).

But still that nagging question, why has Aston Martin traditionally been the darling of the long roof crowd? Any ideas?