Spied: 2013 Aston Martin DB

It’s often pointed out that Aston Martins all pretty much look alike. We know that, you know that, and the people who make them must know, too. But an Aston also looks like a Jaguar, a concept with which the team who cloaked this DB prototype appears to have had some fun.

To wit: The car seen here has a Jag-like grille opening—they’ve even gone so far as to put a round faux badge in the middle of the grille. Closer inspection, however, shows that the mouth’s extra width is being covered by some taped-on parts. The LEDs added to the 2011 DB9’s headlights remain, although the lighting units have been partially covered to further the Jag-lookalike goal. When the not-an-Aston ruse falls apart: The car was photographed at AM’s Nürburgring-side facility. Oops.

More telling of future DB changes are the revised fascias front and rear, which appear to have more of an airflow-redirecting purpose. In the rear, there’s a central diffuser element, as well as air vents flanking the exhaust outlets. Larger hood vents are set farther out near the edges of the bonnet. The car’s beautiful, Aston-characteristic shape now has flatter haunches, which is one of the few signs that this is not just another mild refresh—well, at least it will be a less-mild refresh than Astons usually get. And the number plate has moved from the decklid to the rear bumper, finally making it legal for DB9 drivers to haul that PVC pipe back from the home center with the trunk open.

When it was introduced for 2004, the DB9 was the first Aston to make use of the company’s aluminum VH platform. Given this car’s molasses-grade styling evolution and the fact that all current Astons (except for the Cygnet) make use of the platform, we don’t expect those underpinnings to change. A next-gen car could retain the DB9 badge, Aston could enter the four-character-name realm with DB11, or it could draw from the marque’s past, as is the case with the recently reborn, DB9-based Virage.

Whatever the car is called when it’s unveiled sometime next year for the 2013 model year, you can expect a more-powerful V-12 underhood, two real seats up front and two that amount to a parcel shelf in the rear, and a shape that—for better or for worse—is unmistakably Aston Martin.

Thanks to: Car and Driver