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Raise your hand if you saw this collab coming. Aston Martin has invented a fantasy concept military SUV for Call of Duty. It’s called the Dreadnought, and it’s a surprising turn for a brand that has never historically courted the Ineos or Land Rover crowd, much less signaled a desire to join the military-industrial complex. But here we are!
The Dreadnought strictly exists in the world of the popular first-person shooter franchise, though apparently one full-size model is on display at Fanatics Fest in New York City, which runs through this weekend. The pitch for the vehicle, in Aston’s words, “combines supercar levels of performance, advanced armor technologies and adaptive combat zone intelligence systems into a single, striking form, where every element has been imagined for elite tactical performance.” It’s powered by a V12—theoretically, of course.
This being an Aston—even a pretend one—it’s also luxurious, with a herringbone weave to its carbon fiber and Oxford Tan leather, intricate details that would surely be valued on the battlefield. The exterior is only truly recognizable as an Aston Martin if you focus on the front end, and its similarities to a V8 Vantage from the ’70 or ’80s. The paint is a matte, desaturated twist on British Racing Green, and the decklid incorporates a pronounced duckbill spoiler. The end result is kind of like a Warthog from Halo with a roof and badging.
Aston Martin
The name, as historians in the audience will know, comes from the legendary British warship, HMS Dreadnought. I can’t pretend to understand how a machine like this truly jells with Aston’s reputation for svelte and luxurious cars, but the marque’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman, unsurprisingly can. He said that he imagined the Dreadnought “navigating the streets of New York” and “powering through the monsoon-soaked roads of Mumbai” when dreaming up the SUV, adding that, “Dreadnought is unmistakably an Aston Martin—amplified without restraint.”
Back in 2012, when Call of Duty was frankly a more relevant series than it is today, the game-makers collaborated with Jeep to sell a special-edition Wrangler. That collaboration didn’t need any explaining. If Ineos got in bed with Activision and immortalized the Grenadier in COD, I’d get that too. This feels like a stretch, but then again, I don’t get paid the big bucks to organize brand placement deals. Perhaps it’s a hint toward a tougher, rowdier vibe for the next DBX?
Look, it’s got your K/D ratio and killstreaks right on the digital dash! Aston Martin
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Backed by a decade of covering cars and consumer tech, Adam Ismail is a Senior Editor at The Drive, focused on curating and producing the site’s slate of daily stories.
