Aston Martin's Lawyers Put The Kibosh On That Weird Rebodied NC Miata We Roasted Last Week
Opinions were split last week when I stumbled upon one of the weirdest custom cars I've seen in a while — an automatic NC Miata with a custom body inspired by classic Aston Martins — and I wasn't a big fan. It's a tough task to reskin a modern car, especially when your inspiration is as curvaceous and cohesive as a vintage Aston, and though this 2007 Mazda Miata by Simpson Design doesn't look too bad, it still ain't no classic Aston. Aston Martin thought so too, apparently, as the Bring a Trailer auction was withdrawn earlier today just before it would've ended, citing "a trademark claim regarding the Aston Martin badging and description of this car." Whoopsies!
Restomod companies have learned how to navigate the tricky and often litigious world of marketing cars that are based on and/or inspired by preexisting companies or models, using words like "reimagined" to avoid trademark infringement. In this case, it seems that Aston Martin was Not Pleased with the Aston Martin badges affixed to this Mazda Miata, which is understandable. And not only was the listing withdrawn, the page has since been wiped from the internet.
Trademarks are trademarks
Bring a Trailer explained the listing's removal in the comments of the listing itself, which has been preserved by the wayback machine (though sadly before today's events). It said,
"Late yesterday we were informed of a trademark claim regarding the Aston Martin badging and description of this car. Unfortunately, we are unable to satisfy their demands in a timely fashion, nor do we want to put the seller in a difficult position through no fault of theirs, and so we have elected to withdraw the auction as a result.
The seller has informed us that the logos on the car are removable, and we will remain in contact with the seller and with Aston Martin's representation in an effort to see if the car can be relisted at a later date with a revised description and in a way that satisfies the trademark requirements.
We appreciate the community's and the seller's understanding in this unusual situation."
There were some later comments left by an account that appeared to belong to Jim Simpson, the designer of this thing, based on the account's prior comments and auction activity. One of the comments said, "At Simpson Design we have cautioned clients about adding badges to their cars, and to that end as it is trademark infringement, is something we have never engaged in... our advice has been if you want to go buy badges and put them on your car, that is up to you, but be aware that when the day comes that you decide to sell the car, it may cause some problems..." In the comments, the seller did say "To be clear, I added the Aston Martin badging just for fun, not Jim," and that they are "easily removed, mounted with sticky backing."
It's understandable that Aston Martin has some reservations about seeing its winged logo adorning various surfaces on this little Frankenstein's monster, but the ad doesn't try to convince anyone that this is a real Aston — the title of the listing was "26k-Mile, Aston Martin-Style 2007 Mazda MX-5 Miata Sport By Simpson Design," and it was clear in the description that it's very much a Miata. But ultimately, it should not have Aston's trademarked badge on it if it's not explicitly licensed to do so. It's possible that the seller could strip the Aston badges off the car and auction it again, but next moves are unclear as of now. We reached out to Aston Martin for comment on the matter, and are awaiting a response.