The idea of digital-only concept cars being driveable in videogames is not exactly new. Often, this comes in the form of a car sporting the name Vision, and appearing in the latest iteration of the Gran Turismo series. Aston Martin already has its own digital-only car in the form of the DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo, but now there’s a new virtual car that the brand has announced. It’s called the Dreadnought, and it’s set to appear on 23 October in … Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4.
On the surface, it ticks off many boxes that you’d expect from a military-grade SUV, while somewhat retaining the look of an Aston Martin. It’s got a V12 engine too, which lets the carmaker say that the Dreadnought “combines supercar levels of performance, advanced armour technologies and adaptive combat zone intelligence systems into a single, striking firm, where every element has been imagined for elite tactical performance”. Which are all very strange words to associate with the brand. Indeed, the company itself admits as things like military-grade armour are “rarely found on an Aston Martin”.
The English carmaker naturally makes a big deal out of the name Dreadnought, named after the HMS Dreadnought from the early 1900s which created a new class of warships named after her. If nothing else, the car sharing the same name does look imposing, but that comes at the expense of the subdued look that you’d expect from the brand. Company Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman says that “to me, Dreadnought is unmistakably an Aston Martin – amplified without restraint”. No arguments about the without restraint part, that’s for sure.
While the digital debut of the Aston Martin Dreadnought will be alongside the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, there is a full-sized model of the car that people can check out. That said, this is at the Fanatics Fest in New York, and it’s currently already ongoing, until 19 July.
