Bond goes back to Aston Martin (1 Viewer)

[Dave F]

Saw over at Yahoo that Bond will be ditching the BMW's and is going back to driving an Aston Martin in the next movie. MSN has an overview of the car, the V12 Vanquish .
-Dave
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DVD List

 

[Sam Hatch]

That's a great looking car!
Hopefully it will get some decent screen time - with the exception of 'Tomorrow Never Dies', the Brosnan car scenes feel more like obligatory commercials. Especially 'Goldeneye', where he drives it down a dirt road for twenty seconds and hands the keys over to Joe Don Baker.
I'd love to see them put that car through some real action -
like the Aston Martin in 'The Living Daylights'!
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"Negative. I am a meat popsicle."

 

[Frank_Lee]

I think it's about time they finally went back to a classic car. A central part of the Bond character (in the books anyways) is an appreciation of the finer things in life and a certain material elitism. While the BMWs were great looking cars, nowadays they're a dime a dozen. Though I'm sure the makers of the movie won't be able to resist having the car tricked out with all sorts of ballistics and advanced technology, it's nice to see this aspect of Bond going back to its roots. Maybe they'll put an in-dash DVD player with LCD screen. Now that'd be something.
[Edited last by Frank_Lee on August 26, 2001 at 06:14 PM]

 

[Vincent-Hanna]

It's about damn time...

 

[RobertR]

A central part of the Bond character (in the books anyways) is an appreciation of the finer things in life and a certain material elitism. While the BMWs were great looking cars, nowadays they're a dime a dozen.

Not only that, but Aston Martin is clearly associated with things BRITISH. Ian Fleming was very much a patriotic Brit. He made it CLEAR that Bond was BRITISH, and would have HATED the idea of Bond driving a GERMAN vehicle (no offense meant to Germans).
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[Rob Gillespie]

BMW has gotten itself a bit of name of late. As said above, the cars are now ten-a-penny and are synonymous with bad driving by impatient company reps. The company also came under fire for dumping the British car company Rover, whom they bought out a few years ago.
Perhaps this has something to do with the change. I'm not a Bond fan, but I'm glad to see they've gone back to AM.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

Not only that, but Aston Martin is clearly associated with things BRITISH. Ian Fleming was very much a patriotic Brit. He made it CLEAR that Bond was BRITISH, and would have HATED the idea of Bond driving a GERMAN vehicle (no offense meant to Germans).

Things are a little more complex than this. Although Aston Martin is in British ownership, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, and Jaguar are not. Rolls-Royce is controlled by BMW and Bentley is controlled by Volkwagen. Jag is owned by Ford.

 

[Keith Mickunas]

Hehe, Aston Martin is as British as Jaguar now. They're both owned by Ford, and some of the Astons are based on Jag chassis. Ford has Land Rover also, and Volvo. Hmm, Ford has the one known for safety? That's weird.

 

[RobertR]

hehehe that's why I used the word "associated"
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[Keith Mickunas]

Well IMHO I consider Jag and Aston Martin to both still be British. Ford hasn't messed them up yet. And Bond belongs in a British car. BMWs are nice, but its not like they got the distinguished heritage of the British cars, and that's what Bond deserves.

 

[Patrick_S]

I like the look of the new AM that he'll be driving, but while others have said that BMWs are a dime a dozen, how many Z8s have you scene on the road?
I've only scene a couple, even in the land of silicon millionaires and in person it really is a good looking car.
I'm certain I'll see even fewer AMs since it's well over 200K.
Regardless both are good looking cars.
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[andrew markworthy]

Don't know about California, but Z8s are plentiful around the West Midlands. I hate the things - they're a hairdresser's car*, and the sight of Bond driving one has really dented my enjoyment of the last couple of movies. The sedan version of the BMW was slightly more acceptable, but I agree, he should be driving a Brit car (didn't Bond drive a vintage Bentley sports in the original books?).
*Translation - a car driven or aspired to by someone very very fluffy who wants something 'fun' to drive (it's usually the next step up from one of those tedious small 4x4s) and would if they could have it in pink. I.e. just the sort of car Bond would drive.

 

[Patrick_S]

quote: Don't know about California, but Z8s are plentiful around the West Midlands. I hate the things - they're a hairdresser's car*, [/quote]
Any chance your confusing the Z3 with the Z8?
Bond drove the Z3 in GoldenEye and the Z8 in The World is Not Enough. The difference is that the Z3 is around 30K US while the Z8 is 125K US.
[Edited last by Patrick_S on August 27, 2001 at 03:53 AM]

 

[andrew markworthy]

Either. Sorry, I just have a personal (and deeply irrational) dislike of BMWs and their Z-range cars in particular. I'm sure that in reality they are really brilliant to drive and some of the most blessed and saintly people on this earth drive them, but I still think that as a Bond car, something from the BMW range just *sucked*.
Just say the words 'BMW' and 'Aston Martin' and contrast the images produced. You see? No contest.
[Edited last by andrew markworthy on August 27, 2001 at 11:04 AM]

 

[Patrick_S]

Andrew, I'm not debating AM vs. BMW. I just doubt you have actually seen that many Z8s on the road and in fact are confusing the Z3 and the Z8. The primary reason why is that BMW has actually produced very few of the cars compared to the Z3 model.
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[Philip Hamm]

Well IMHO I consider Jag and Aston Martin to both still be British. Ford hasn't messed them up yet.

That's because the Lincoln LS platform is the best thing to come from Ford in quite some time. (IMHO of course).
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Philip Hamm
AIM: PhilBiker

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

And the Contour SVT, which I drive, has come back as the new Jaguar X-Type......from the Mondeo chassis of Ford of Germany. How circuitous is this parentage?
To add insult to injury, the new Austin Mini-Cooper is made by BMW as well.
I guess you have to decide if you want your "British sportscar" built on a Ford platform or by Ford's subsidiary Mazda....

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Feline audience members Katie, Susie, and the one and only Fluffy Pumpkin
[Edited last by Dennis Nicholls on August 27, 2001 at 05:51 PM]

 

[Tom-G]

I'm glad that the Aston Martin is going to be the vehicle of choice for Bond. The reasons? First, it's a British car. Bond should drive a British car, not a German car. The Aston Martin is a part of the Bond legacy. Second, I don't like BMWs very much and if I ever hit the lottery, I would much prefer an Aston Martin.
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[Edited last by Tom_G on August 29, 2001 at 10:32 AM]