Famous yacht designer Luiz de Basto reinvents a classic car for the water

It seems that a new trend is emerging that’s uniting the worlds of fast cars and luxury yachts. Car brands have recently been joining forces with yacht builders to create high performance sports yachts, including Mercesdes-Benz and Lancia, to name a few. Of all of them, we’re mad about the new concept Aston Martin Voyage. Whether you’re a car lover or not, you can’t help but admire the fine lines of the iconic Aston Martin car and exclusive Miami based yacht designers Luiz de Basto (of Magnum 44 and 51 fame) has come up with a yacht inspired by the Vantage, Rapide, DBS and Virage models of the Aston Martin car.

As an avid lover of cars and car design, and indeed an owner of his own Aston Martin, designer Luiz De Basto tried to recreate the key design features of the car, from the stylish window shape and roof line to the slick hood and AM racing orage and yellow colour scheme and dark green exterior while at the same time producing a beautiful fully functional boat with an anchor, a hatch to house the windlass, the tail lights becoming the engine’s exhaust and the transom having a retractable swim platform for closer contact with the water. Other standouts include the large plush seats that convert into sun pads.

According to the designer, the biggest challenge was how to transfer Aston Martin’s signature radiator grille to the boat (since boats don’t tend to have radiators) and preserve the shape. Several sketches later, the designer decided to shape the windshield like the radiator. The recess on the sides created a natural space for a handrail on the inside windows and can be carried out on the shape of the hard top.

The 55’ high performance yacht was christened Voyage in recognition of the brand’s tradition of naming their cars with the initial “V” as well as symbolic of the idea of movement and new horizons. While De Basto already has permission from Aston Martin to use their name, unfortunately the model is still only a concept at the moment and not intended for production any time soon. Fingers crossed that Aston Martin come round to the idea and we’ll be seeing this beautiful boat specimen on the water one day in the future.

luizdebasto.com