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Production Aston Martin DBX Looks Nothing Like the Concept

Just like Bentley which showed one SUV in concept form and a completely different one in production guise, Aston Martin has pulled the same trick with its new DBX.
Aston Martin DBX 5 photos
Photo: Aston Martin
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In fact, the difference between the DBX concept and the series model is far greater than the one between the Bentley EXP 9F and the production Bentayga. These two Bentleys are at least similar in terms of body style and some details, but what Aston Martin did was essentially ditch the concept’s design in favor of something totally different.

The DBX concept, revealed at the 2015 Geneva motor show, looked like a slightly larger One-77 on stilts and with space for four people inside. The concept was pretty cool because it was quite unique - how many high-riding more traditional looking coupes do you know?

Aston Martin DBX
Photo: Aston Martin
This was the main point people made about the DBX concept - they argued there was nothing not to like about a higher riding but still familiar looking Aston Martin. And it was really quite a looker, even with its visibly taller ride height - there was something about that design that (inexplicably) worked.

However, its design and philosophy didn’t trickle down into the production car one bit. We’re not even sure Aston Martin planned to make a production version of it, or what the reason behind its creation was. Maybe at first the company did want to make the production DBX along the same lines as the concept, but it ultimately wend down a much more sensible road.

What resulted is by no means bad, although it is a bit underwhelming compared to the concept. The production DBX certainly has character and it has its unique style, yet at the same time, it’s also visibly similar to pretty much all its rivals - the Porsche Cayenne, Bentley Bentayga, Lamborghini Urus or Audi Q8.

Aston Martin DBX
Photo: Aston Martin
It is by no means a bad design effort - pasting Aston Martin cues onto an SUV shape could have resulted in disaster, and the fact that it didn’t is definitely positive. Just look back at when Porsche first tried its hand at making an SUV - the first-generation Cayenne was (and still is) by many definitions hideous.

And its design brief was similar to the one for the DBX - Porsche designers had to make an SUV that looked unmistakably Porsche-esque, all while maintaining its capability and keeping it a practical well-sorted vehicle. The first-gen Cayenne was a great SUV in many respects, but the way it looked certainly left a lot to be desired.
Aston Martin, on the other hand, got it right for its very first SUV. The production-spec DBX looks really good from pretty much any angle and it’s still undeniably a modern Aston. Its design isn’t groundbreaking, or as cool as it could have been had the designers stuck to the idea behind the DBX concept, but it’s still a solid effort.

In fact, I think it’s probably the best looking out of the entire group of super SUVs and, unlike some of them, it for some reason doesn’t look ridiculous going off road. Had Aston kept the formula presented by the concept, the resulting DBX would have looked really out of place mud plugging - this production version, though, doesn’t and it relishes getting dirty.

Aston Martin DBX
Photo: Aston Martin
Maybe there is room for a vehicle more along the lines of the concept in Aston Martin’s lineup; a kind of halo high rider that is closer to its traditional core models, just jacked up a bit higher. Maybe the concept previews a future, more extreme and exclusive model, like the One-77, but with higher ground clearance.

Besides, the segment for SUVs costing in the millions is still unoccupied, and one manufacturer is bound to enter it at some point in the (probably near) future. Aston Martin could step in with a production version of the DBX concept, charge as much as it wants for it because it will be the only one of its kind, and watch the orders flow in.
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