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James Bond's Cars (Part 2)
...Continued from Part 1.Aston Martin, Back in the LimelightOf course with Bond cars being so closely associated with all things Aston Martin it would not be long before the most famous of British sports car manufacturers once again become involved in the James Bond franchise. Aston Martin's had appeared in other previous Bond films but only in very small background roles, it would not be until 1987's The Living Daylights that one took center stage again. In this case Aston Martin allowed the use of a number of DBS V8's including two hard tops and a soft top Volante. In a move back to classic Bond this Aston Martin DBS V8 featured a tremendous number of "optional extras" and as with previous films the designers worked hard to build as many physical working props into the vehicle as possible.In one scene Bond engages a rocket booster on the back of his car, although this did not provide any speed boost in real life it was a real live effect created by firing a large gas flame from the vehicles exhaust. The tyres came complete with retractable steel spikes in order to improve traction on icy surfaces, and outriggers could be deployed to provide stability. On an artificial lake at Pinewood Studios the Aston Martin DBS V8 used a device to cut a circle in some ice through which a pursuing Lada could plunge. As with many Bond cars there were weapons behind the headlights, in this case a pair of missiles aimed using a heads up display projected onto the windscreen.
BMW, Stepping ForwardIn something of a surprise move the next major company to feature heavily in the James Bond franchise would be BMW. Although the company had provided many vehicles used in the background of scenes in previous films they had never had one of their vehicles in a starring role, with the creation of the Z3 Roadster all of this was set to change. GoldenEye (1994) was the first vehicle to tentatively feature Bond's new partnership with BMW, even though it was not featured in any large way it made an impression on motoring enthusiasts worldwide and a canny marketing agreement with BMW allowed the popularity of the Bond franchise and sales of the BMW Z3 to soar in the wake of the film.The agreement with BMW proved so successful that they were once again asked to provide Bond's car for 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies. The rather utilitarian BMW 750iL belies the level of technology crammed into the interior of the car, James Bond is able to drive it via remote control built into his mobile phone. Of more interest was the prominent use of a BMW motorcycle (the R 1200 C Cruiser) in a spectacular chase scene through Bangkok. The scene includes an impressive jump over a large distance, and also the bike being driven roof to roof along the crowded cityscape.In 1999 The World Is Not Enough was released and this was the final Bond film to feature a BMW, in this instance the new Z8 Roadster. As with the previous 750iL the car was fully remote controlled and also featured all of the refinements a secret agent might expect, such as side firing rockets. For this film BMW offered the studio a number of handmade prototypes, each costing some 700,000 German Marks each. Needless to say a number of these were destroyed in filming a spectacular scene where a helicopter complete with giant saw slices the plucky BMW Z8 in two!Aston Martin, Rebooting BondIn a neat move that brings the franchise full circle Aston Martin now appear to be back in the driving seat (no pun intended!) In the last of the "old timeline" films before they were re-started with Daniel Craig as James Bond the vehicle used by our favourite secret agent was the spectacular Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. As well as being a joy to behold the vehicle featured a tremendous number of gadgets and featured very heavily in the films narrative, the film also includes one of the most spectacular car chases in Bond's history complete with a villain who's car also includes an impressive array of gadgets. A number of grille mounted rockets were fitted to the V12 Vanquish as well as a pair of machine guns, but the most impressive feature of the vehicle was a stealth system that renders the vehicle almost invisible (obviously created in post processing after the scenes had been filmed!)After the spectacular swan song of the gadget laden vehicle that was the V12 Vanquish the Bond franchise headed in a new direction with a "reboot" that ignored all of the previous films and re-started the franchise. In this new edition of James Bond the Aston Martin DBS features prominently, however it does not feature very many gadgets and is limited to hidden storage spaces for spare weapons and an emergency medical kit. Despite the fact that this is an all new James Bond he still enjoys destroying his vehicles as much as his predecessors did, and henceforth both Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace have featured the DBS getting destroyed in a variety of spectacular ways.The Future?Rumours abound about possible future vehicles for James Bond in his 23rd film and beyond. Aston Martin have recently unveiled a new special edition DBS known as the "Carbon Black" and this is a fan favourite for inclusion into the film. Despite this film crews have been spotted recently filming scenes with the beautiful new Lotus Evora, complete with a red paint job reminiscent of the vehicle used in For Your Eyes Only.
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