With SPECTRE releasing worldwide in just over two months, 007 and Aston Martin are flaunting the star of the film, the Aston Martin DB10. Video-geniuses XCAR, as well as new Top Gear’s Chris Evans managed to get exclusive looks at the bespoke Bond car.
XCAR rightfully notes the over-50 years of history between Aston Martin and James Bond, with the DB10 perfectly representing the beautiful culmination of past and present for the British sports-car brand, and Britain’s greatest spy.
The new host of BBC’s Top Gear also got a chance to drive the SPECTRE Aston Martin DB10, and through his eyes (and words) we get a closer look at how exactly this bespoke-for-Bond Aston Martin came to be.
Writing for Event Magazine (via The Daily Mail), to get tons of exclusive access to the production of SPECTRE, Evans guides us through the set up to him driving one of only ten Aston Martin DB10 models to ever be produced.
According to his report, the custom cars were commissioned following a visit by the main producers and the director of the upcoming Bond film, who wanted their spy back in the famous British sports-car brand for the 24th film.
They were invited behind the securely locked doors of Aston Martin’s skunk works, where everything they currently have under development was displayed with the hopes of selling the Bond team on what they were working on.
Instead, the filmmakers were inspired to incorporate aspects of Aston’s workshop into Q’s lab in the upcoming film, with various Aston Martin models being displayed in the background in the most recent trailer for the film.
The filmmakers sprung the surprise request on Aston, asking not for the next-generation Aston the company is working on, but instead wanting them to design and build ten exclusive cars for the film.
Design Director Marek Reichman took up the challenge, drafting the design himself and producing all ten models in just five months to be ready for shooting a crazy car chase through The Vatican and the streets of Rome.
We already knew the DB10 would be fitted with gadgets, and with the release of the trailers for the film we learned there will definitely be a flamethrower of sorts fitted to Bond’s Aston, blasting the Jaguar C-X75 chasing him through Rome.
Chris Evans’ Event Magazine article also drops another gadget in his article, with an all-too-familiar feature on the gear shift. If you’ve ever seen the classic Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger or Skyfall, you know exactly what that means.
The line “I never joke about my work, 007.” from Q. comes to mind.
The article also features other images of the interior of the car, which is full of hints and cues as to the direction and future of Aston Martin’s interior design on their upcoming models.
The design of the car is relatively revolutionary for Aston, ditching traditional slatted vents in the hood for pin-hole like designs to let heat escape. The roof of the car also features a Zagato-like double-bubble, adding to the flowing lines of the car.
Reichman’s approach to the car was to simplify the lines and smooth the current Aston look, with the DB10 being the first car in decades to feature an integrated “whale tail” that finishes of the wedge shape of the car in a “more natural” manner.
The mechanics and specs of the car show a sort of parts-bin approach, which aided the accelerated timeline, featuring the old Aston Martin V8 and chassis components from the company’s current lineup of cars. Of course this fits the themes of the car of blending the past with the future of the brand. Besides, if you’re going to knowingly wreck all but two of the cars in filming, cutting corners is more than welcome.
Our own Máté Petrány claims the Jaguar C-X75 is the better bespoke British super-car in the film, and I might be slightly inclined to agree. Either way, both are fine machines, and should make for a spectacular chase in the film.
If you want to see the DB10 for yourself, it is parked up in the lobby of the Odeon theater in London in preparation for the premier of SPECTRE. Meanwhile I’ll just be here, jealous of the fact that everyone around me gets to experience the pleasures of the DB10.
You bet your martini-sippin’ ass I’ll be first in line when the film premieres stateside. I already bought my tickets.
Images via 007.com and The Daily Mail/Event Magazine