Bond On Bond (17 page)
Authors: Roger Moore
The DB5 returns in
Casino Royale
.
Other Astons featured in the series include:
A DBS was used in the pre-credits and closing scenes of
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
as Jim and Tracy’s wedding car. It was glimpsed in the subsequent film,
Diamonds Are Forever
, parked up in Q-Branch.
In
The Living Daylights
Timothy Dalton drove a V8 Vantage Volante convertible and its hardtop version. All the usual refinements were in place, including extending side outriggers, spike-producing tyres, missiles, lasers, signal-intercepting smart radio, head-up display and rocket propulsion. It could also self-destruct when primed. Doesn’t every car?
Pierce Brosnan’s first outing as 007 –
GoldenEye
– brought back the Aston Martin DB5 and this time pitted it against a Ferrari in the hills above Monte Carlo; while in his last outing,
Die Another Day
, the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish (or ‘Vanish’) was introduced by the new Q. It featured front-firing rockets, hood-mounted target-seeking guns, spike-producing tyres and a passenger ejector seat in homage to the original Aston Martin DB5. This Aston was also equipped with ‘adaptive camouflage’ – a cloaking device that allowed it to become effectively invisible at the push of a button. Hmmmm. A little far-fetched even for Bond!
When
Casino Royale
hit the screens, we saw the new Aston Martin DBS V1 (right) as Jim’s car of choice, although no special gadgets were visible other than the compartments that housed his Walther P99 and an emergency medical kit. It turned up again in
Quantum Of Solace
and was all but destroyed after a chase in Siena, Italy. Nice to know some things don’t change.
My own Bondmobile came in the shape of the Lotus Esprit. The story goes that Donovan McLauchlan, public relations manager at Lotus, had been tipped off that the next Bond movie,
The Spy Who Loved Me,
was gearing up for pre-production at Pinewood. It was early 1976, and he drove an Esprit to the studios and parked it right in the path of anyone trying to get in or out of the main admin building entrance. It wasn’t long before Cubby saw the car and made a phone call – not to get it towed, but to ask all about it. Their gamble paid off.
Little Nellie, the autogyro, held her honour against several SPECTRE airborne thugs in
You Only Live Twice.
And here is her ‘Uncle’, dear Desmond Llewelyn, describing her operation to 007 – please note he is wearing shorts!
And here she is today, still proudly sporting her 007 weaponry.
Lotus loaned us two production Esprit’s, five Esprit body shells and two Lotus personnel for the shoot. The body shells were used to make the underwater car, as adapted by Perry Oceanographics. A full underwater conversion mode with fins, front-mounted rocket launchers, mines, a periscope, a smoke screen and a surface-to-air missile was pretty exciting. There was also a cement sprayer concealed behind the registration plates.
Other body shells were used in various scenes, including the shot of the Esprit driving off the pier into the sea. That one was powered by compressed air, equipped with a space-frame and locked steering wheel … It’s nice to know no actors were harmed.
The Corgi model of the Lotus Esprit.
Just popping into the cove for its 6,000-mile service.
Lotus sales increased dramatically after the film’s release, with a three-year waiting list for Esprits in particular. I myself was offered the opportunity to buy one at a ten per cent discount. Needless to say, their overwhelming generosity was not something that particularly excited me.
Always room for a pretty passenger in the Lotus Esprit.