Why James Bond's Aston Martin Top Trumps the rest
What car should James Bond really drive? It's a hotly disputed question. Our man on film is closely associated with the Aston Martin, the DB5 initially and DBS V12 of late. Clearly the producers of recent Bond outings hope to identify their character with the spirit of an earlier time regarded as iconic and special. And they …
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What about the Audi's ?
Funny that nearly everyone seems to forget that in two James Bond movies with Timoty Dalton Audi was the official James Bonds car.
It was an Audi 200 limousine and an Audi 200 Avant, both pre model 1988 face lift cars.
In the movie with Rutger Hauer (and the blonde with the violin) an Audi V8 was used.
An similar looking Audi 100 can be picked up for little money.... and is an excellent daily driver.
Re: What about the Audi's ?
".....and the blonde with the violin...." Que? Do you mean Maryam d'Abo and her Strad cello in "The Living Daylights"? That was the film that saw the Aston return as Bond's car, in the form of the V8 Vantage. The Audis were incidental cars thrown in and not Bond cars.
".....In the movie with Rutger Hauer....." AFAIK, Rutger has not appeared in any Bond movies. Do you mean Klaus Maria Brandauer in "For Your Eyes Only", which had the very short appearance fo the Lotur Esprit Turbo, or maybe Christopher Walken in "A View To A Kill", which did not have a Bond car?
Re: What about the Audi's ?
I just spent some time destroying tyres in a new RS 5 doing 4 wheel drifts (the one with the same V8 and 40/60 4 wheel drive as the R8). It is very clear that the Audi 5 design has been inspired by the classic Aston Martin DB5 lines, but debadged this is probably the best hidden road monster you can get your hands on - it is good looking, but you can close the exhaust valves so it sounds almost normal - until you put your foot down and simply *vanish*. I *love* invisible power - no shouting, no bling, all gun metal gray and black. Yum.
Being Teutonic it will fail as miserably in iconic value as a BMW (can't beat an Aston for elegance and standing, sorry), but in a chase this silly thing will beat the living cr*p out of any Aston whilst giving the driver serious fun in the process. As its V8 redlines somewhere close to 9000 RPM it must also be great for the movie sound engineers - it is worryingly inviting :).
If I had the dosh I'd buy the RS 5 first - and only then the DB9, which I personally like the best..
Re: What about the Audi's ?
".....it will fail as miserably in iconic value as a BMW....." TBH, I think the BMWs have got progressively uglier over the last decade, and the Audis have gradually cast off their staid designs and got a bit sportier. The A5 Sportback is probably the handsomest fastback saloon around at the moment, and far more appealling than any current BMW.
Re: What about the Audi's ?
Sorry.. i can't stop it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLZp68YwkVs&feature=watch_response
Audi 200 quattro was a Bond car, enjoy the 5-cylinder sound... :-)
Re: Re: What about the Audi's ?
"Sorry.. i can't stop it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLZp68YwkVs&feature=watch_response
Audi 200 quattro was a Bond car, enjoy the 5-cylinder sound... :-)"
Sorry, but nil points for you! The Audi in "the Living Daylights" is not a Bond car, it is actually the car belonging to Bond's MI6 contact in Bratislava, Saunders. Back to Bond School for you, I'm afriad!
Re: What about the Audi's ?
You are right, at least in both movies Timoty Dalton was driving Audi's 200's quite prominently. Still much better than the Ford Mondeo seen in one of the more recent movies.
Officially announced JB cars are out of my league. Most Aston Martins will require 5 digits in any currency for a tune-up at the friendly dealership....
Close encounter
A high-school friend of mine worked as a reporter for the Daily-American in Somerset, Pennsylvania, USA. One Saturday morning in the fall of 1965 he called me to rush over to his house.
We went to a local towing-company garage, and there was most of the DB5 stunt car! The guy on duty said that when the car was towed in the driver yelled "Nobody hears about this!" and ran off to find a pay phone; of course the mechanic called in the local paper.
The roof panel was open, the ejection seat popped up, guns and axle knives hanging out, license plate loose. Apparently somebody's brother/nephew/partner convinced the front office the vehicle might be damaged by the shipping company, so he'd drive it back from the New York World's Fair to California. He managed to stuff it into the back of a tractor trailer after only about 300 miles, so he may have just kept running.
I still have a paint chip from the car. I'll have to ask my friend if he has any of the photos he took, but I doubt it. It wasn't all that important to a couple of teenagers, just interesting.
And my wife's CVT Jeep Patriot can probably outrun it, at least out here where the roads are twisty and hilly.
The car they SHOULD have chosen is of course the Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato, not the ordinary one...
150MPH?
The Jaguar marketing department was not that daft if people still believe their 150mph claim. Nowadays they would be in court facing the trading standards lawyers. It could not do 150 downhill with a following wind, not even close. 140 definitely, maybe 141 or even 142 tops.
Toy box
Somewhere in the toy box from my youth I still have the Scalextric slot car set from Goldfinger. It is complete with the rock in the middle of the track to trigger the ejector seat on the Aston Martin DB5. The original passanger is still there. The Black Mercedes is there as well. I still bring the slotcar set out every now and then and set it up and play (especially when I have friends over for drinks and to watch the F1 or V8s).
I also currently drive an E38 series 740iL (1998 model, 3rd owner, 285000 km) . It is still as solid as the day it was made. A mate has a 750iL that has over 300000km on the clock and it is still smooth and quick.
he should be driving one of these in the latest movie
http://www.tvr-car-club.co.uk/tvrpreviewevent.asp
From Russia with l;ove
I am fairly sure that at the begining of FRWL bond actually had a proper Bentley which was replaced in Goldfinger with the DB5.
Fell free to correct if necessary
Black Helicopter .. Well it's Bond
white lotus sub
I still have my Dinky model which I got in England when i was a little boy - my dad was stationed at Lakenheath. Sigh.
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