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Devil May Care, the new James Bond novel set back during the Cold War in 1967, arrives on bookstore shelves May 28th. The book's author, Sebastian Faulkes, has written the story in the style of the late Ian Fleming to celebrate the 007 creator's centenary. As we first reported last September, MI6's greatest secret agent also returns to his Bentley-driving roots in Devil May Care. The car is the same one he drives in Fleming's Thunderball and On Her Majesty's Secret Service: a custom 2-seat Bentley R type Continental convertible with the 4½-liter engine from a Mk VI stuffed underhood. To celebrate Bond's return to Bentley, Penguin Books asked the automaker to design a very limited Special Series Edition -- just 300 copies will be made. (Anyone want to place bets on the aftermarket value of book #007?)

Under the supervision of chief designer Dirk Van Braeckel (the man responsible for the current Continental GT's lines), Bentley has delivered a leather-bound, heirloom-quality piece. The 'Flying B' hood ornament is featured on the cover and spine, and the outer leather is stitched in the same diamond pattern you'll find on the seating surfaces of a modern Bentley road car. The inside cover is also finished off in leather, but is styled in tune with cars of the era in which the story is set. The typeface used is the same one you'll find in a Bentley owner's manual, and each individually-numbered book comes with a matching-number pewter die-cast R type model and a similarly-snazzy book block. The numbering on each book, by the way, is featured on a metal plate supplied by the same firm who does the engine plates for the cars. Finally, all books come with a plexiglass slipcase.

As you might expect, this mega-exclusive book is also mega-expensive. £750 will put one on the bookshelf, where it would surely look nice next to the divorce papers you'll be handed shortly after its arrival. If you're a Bond completist, recent lottery winner, or a Bentley fanatic, you can order the super special edition via Penguin007.com, where they've got all manner of Bond info, a countdown clock ticking off the seconds to the book's release and a link to the Special Series Edition minisite. You regular folk (we know you're out there) can meet us at Amazon, where the pricing's a bit more in tune with blogger pay.

[Sources: Bentley, Penguin Books]

At 6:30 this morning, a stunt driver shooting a scene for the upcoming James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, lost control of an Aston Martin DBS while filming a chase scene and plunged into Lake Garda in Italy. The film's executive producer, Anthony Waye, said that the scene was being shot in the pouring rain, and although the DBS didn't survive it's unplanned excursion into the water, the driver sustained only minor injuries and was released from the hospital earlier this afternoon. MI6 declined to comment on the incident, but a spokesperson for the agency remarked that the submersible kit for the Aston was under development. Too little, too late Q.

Thanks for the tip MaTTia.


[Source: Reuters.it - translated]

Click image to view the high-res version, the DBS gallery

The Aston Martin DBS is one exclusive, expensive ride, with only 500 copies of the $250,000 car scheduled to be made each year. To up the exclusivity factor while also giving deep-pocketed DBS owners the ability to play James Bond, Swiss watchmaker Jaeger LeCoultre has designed a very exclusive chronograph strictly for DBS owners. The AMVOX2 chronograph has over 400 parts and costs an absolutely stunning $34,500. The timepiece, which is limited to 999 grade 5 titanium editions and 300 more exclusive Rose Gold wrist jewels, can actually open your DBS for you. Spending $35k on a good looking watch so you don't have to carry a key fob seems drastic to us poor folk, but when you've got money to burn, it's nice to pony up for items that are at least functional.

While the exclusive chronograph is an impressive piece of Swiss engineering, the best part of the equation is that the watch will likely never lose its value, and owners will undoubtedly be rewarded handsomely if they ever try to sell their prized bauble. Funny thing about a watch with 400 parts: when an autommaker over-engineers a part with too many components, it leads to more recalls and lower resale value. In a Swiss watch, a bunch of fancy parts makes it worth 1,000 Casios.

[Source: Auto News (subscription req'd)]

Some were better than others, but the Bond flicks get us going back to the theater every time. There's just something irreplicably stylish and enchanting about the entire series, and 007's rides make up a big part of that allure... at least for hopeless car nuts like us. But just like the acting and storyline vary with each production, so does the coolness of Bond's cars. So where does each one rank? Just prior to the launch of the latest installment with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, the pundits at Cars.com convened two specialists to rank the top 7 of 007's cars.

Earning top honors was the classic '64 Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger (which we also got to see in its cameo encore appearance in Casino Royale), ahead of the '75 Lotus Esprit featured in The Spy Who Loved Me. Surprisingly, the '97 BMW 750iL from Tomorrow Never Dies started from the second row, out-qualifying the '85 Aston Martin Volante from The Living Daylights, the 1930's Bentley Mark IV (From Russia With Love), the 2002 Aston Martin Vanquish (Die Another Day), and the '99 BMW Z8 (The World is Not Enough). The experts also gave honorable mention to the markedly more affordable '61 Sunbeam Alpine from Dr. No.

For our part, we'd certainly have placed the Vanquish ahead of the 7-Series, and ahead of the '85 Volante, but the real question is where the specially-made Aston Martin DBS would slot into the list. (And for that matter, what will Bond drive in the next episode?)

[Source: Cars.com]

We finally got to watch Casion Royale the other day and were very impressed with the new Bond – clearly a darker and more mature double-O than previous ones who were cast as cartoonish philanderers. In addition to the new Bond, the series also received a new cast member in the form of the Aston Martin DBS. The story of Aston's involvement in Casino Royale is interesting, considering the automaker needed to supply the film with cars a full two years ahead of the DBS reaching production. Of course, the majority of the four cars Aston Martin delivered to the production were completely destroyed for a scene in which Bond swerves to avoid steamrolling his lady love and enters into a series of seven barrel rolls. The scene's stuntwork was so successful that it entered the Guiness Book of World Records for achieving seven complete rolls, besting Top Gear, the previous record holder. Unfortunately, the end result of the wreck was a destroyed DBS. Brit mag EVO chronicles the story of Aston's involvement in Casino Royale here, and provides a series of shots showing the DBS before and after the crash. Surprisingly, the Aston Martin DBS still looks gorgeous after going end over end a record number of times. It just needs a little TLC to get back on its feet.

[Source: EVO]

Poor 007. They keep on changing his car on him. First they had him in an Aston Martin DB5, followed by a Lotus Esprit, then BMW paid its way in for a few films, before coming back to Aston Martin again for the latest few. (And, as many of our astute commenters will undoubtedly point out, Bond has driven a variety of other vehicles along the way.) But could Audi be next?

A couple days ago a sharp-eyed blogger reported to have seen a new TT wearing "007" plates. Upon inquiring, he was told it was being used in an Audi commercial being filmed the next day. That doesn't necessarily mean it's being used in the next Bond movie, but it's enough to make you think.

While it used to be a matter of automotive casting, product placement has taken center stage in high-profile action flicks like the latest James Bond movies. Ford was smart to buy the rights from BMW for its Aston Martin subsidiary several episodes back, bringing Bond back to his original love, but with the company's future in the balance as it goes to the highest bidder, Audi might be in a better position to peddle its wares in the next 007 film. We'll just have to wait and see.

[Source: E Commerce Nerd via German Car Blog]

After the debut of the Aston Martin DBS in the most recent Bond flick, "Casino Royale," it looks like 007 No. 22 will feature the incredible "concept" Jaguar C-XF unveiled this week in Detroit at the North American International Auto Show.

Ford still has a $100 million dollar, three-movie deal for exclusive product placement that began with "Die Another Day" in 2002. Wouldn't this be a great way to kick off the sales of such a beautiful new automobile? With Aston Martin still on the auction block, the new Jag looks like a logical next step to us.

Click here for more than 60 high-resolution images of the C-XF in our gallery

[Source: CoolBrit]

Generally, manufacturer vehicle programs are held to show the vehicles and go for a short drive. They usually feed you a boring lunch and then send you on your way, loaded with all kinds of information to sift through and find the real story. Tying into the James Bond theme and Ford's affiliation with the new movie "Casino Royale", Lincoln took us all on a full-day adventure. The "My Dream is to be a Special Agent" program held in Detroit to showcase the new MKZ and MKX models as well as Lincoln's new "Dreams" (www.mydreams.tv) website, which goes live Monday, was anything but boring.

It started as a normal media event, with executives and engineers presenting information about the new products and features and walking us through the new website. From there it got interesting. In an effort to give us the true Bond driving experience, we were then invited to a couple of really cool driving events.

We were handed the reins of a new Mustang GT and invited to try our skills at drifting the Mustangs through a wet autocross course. Are they nuts? Asking journalists to drive like, well, journalists? As if that weren't enough, we were then escorted to the Michigan Stare Police "Alley Test" where we guided a P.I. Crown Vic through a narrow lane of cones first forward, then backward, only stopping briefly to back into a parking spot and accelerate out. Lots of fun, damaged cones, and bruised egos.

After my turn in the MKZ, we stopped at the Firing Line gun range and were allowed to shoot an array of pistols, learn close combat skills, and test our S.W.A.T. abilities on a laser simulator. If you haven't had the chance to fire a .44 Magnum, it's one of those things you should put on your list of stuff to do before you die.

Into the MKX and on to the MGM Grand Casino for a "shaken not stirred" martini class and game of baccarat on the house. Are you starting to see the 007 connection yet?

Last but not least we were shuttled to the Star Theatre to attend a pre-screening of the new James Bond 007 movie "Casino Royale" which featured the most automotive nirvana this side of "Gone in 60 Seconds". Of course, James eventually drives the Aston-Martin DBS, but only after piloting a new Ford Mondeo sedan as well as a '64 Aston-Martin DB7. Other notables included a Bentley Continental GT and GTC as well as a Flying Spur. One scene includes the Bentleys, the DBS, a Maserati Spyder, and a Rolls-Royce Phantom. Although the movie has tons of cool automotive iron, very little of the movie revolved around the cars. As a matter of fact, the DBS gets driven about 2 minutes before it is...I don't want to ruin it for you!

Between each of the events, we were able to drive an MKX and MKZ. The initial impressions will be posted soon, with full Autoblog Garage evaluations scheduled in the very near future.

In the week of the release of the most recent James Bond movie Casino Royale, there are reports that Ford sent information to potential buyers regarding the well being of Aston Martin. It stated that Aston is on track to sell 7,000 cars this year and will generate sales of £479m (US $912m) and a profit of £57m (US $109m). It also states that the Gaydon plant capacity could be expanded to 9,000 vehicles if necessary.

There are concerns within the company that the sale of Aston Martin could mean that vehicle production would move out of the UK, causing the loss of nearly 1,000 jobs. Could they really build an Aston Martin anywhere but the UK? If they do, they might have to deal with 007 himself.

[Source: autoindustry.co.uk]

Even more news on the Mondeo front. This crucial new model for Ford is getting some serious playtime, and justifiably so. It's handsome and sporty and has a lot riding on it. OK, we've seen a bazillion photos of it already, both spy and official. And we know it will play a part in the new Bond movie, Casino Royale. We also have most of the specs and details about features and content. So it was only a matter of time before we got to see the upcoming Ford Mondeo, in action. In this clip, we get to see some brief action shots of the Mondeo interspersed with new Bond, Daniel Craig, doing some typically 007-like acrobatics, but this commercial clip is actually for the car's baby brother, the Focus. Click and enjoy.