Autoblog

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]

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]

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]

click on image to enlarge

After pictures of a vehicle have been surreptitiously leaked onto the web ahead of their scheduled release, there's always this awkward moment when the automaker finally releases the pics officially. It's like opening up a birthday present you found stuffed in the closet a week ago and trying to act surprised. Nevertheless, Ford went to all the trouble of professionally photographing its hand-built, one-of-a-kind 2007 Ford Mondeo used in the shooting of the new James Bond flick, Casino Royale, so we feel obliged to indulge the automaker by reshowing you these pics. At least we have high-res versions of each shot now and the press release is a good read. Turns out the shooting actually took place in the Bahamas last February, when the new Mondeo's design was still a twinkle in some designer's eye. This one-off was built entirely by hand at Ford of Europe's Design Studio in Cologne, Germany in January and shipped off in a crate to the set. They did a fantastic job building the car, as you'd be hard pressed to point out any piece of fabrication that doesn't appear production ready.

[Source: Ford]

Finally, the Aston Martin DBRS9 mules are starting to resemble something James Bond would actually use to carry out international espionage. These new spy shots from Edmunds show the DBRS9, which is based on the standard DB9, with plenty of nipping and tucking going on to give the car a much more aggressive presence, one worthy of the Bond man himself. A pair of creased air inlets flanks a wide lower air intake in the Aston's front fascia, while oversized vents behind the front wheels and an integrated body color diffuser out back make the DBRS9's intentions very clear. All in all it's a wicked look that will compliment the car's supposed 500+ horsepower engine quite nicely.

[Source: Straightline Blog]

Related Posts:

• Spy Shots: Aston Martin's gorgeouos DBRS9
• Bond's Vanquish from Die Another Day auctioned off
• Aston Martin DBS: Bond's ride for the rest of us

Lotus announced today that it has hired a new ad agency to help it along with a renewed push into the North American market. Burbank-based e2amp, inc. will be responsible for rejuvenating the British sportscar company's image in the US and Canada through advertising, product placement and promotional events.

e2amp doesn't appear to have much experience with carmakers - its client roster includes such entertainment companies as JVC, Sony, Buena Vista and Universal. And what could be more entertaining than the tight handling and eminent chuckability of the Lotus Elise and Exige?

Arguably the most interesting part of e2amp's mandate from Lotus is the product placement. After James Bond's return to Aston Martins, could we see a Lotus comeback in the next 007 film?

Related posts:

• Business-class touring: Lotus Europa reviewed
• Lotus' ultimate track day car "coming soon
• Lotus Esprit begins to take shape
  

[Source: The Auto Channel via Jalopnik]

Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley let slip in an interview with PistonHeads that the Hethel-based automaker would indeed be calling its upcoming mid-engine supercar the Esprit, a name that graced the flanks of the supercar for which Lotus is most well known. The slip was entirely unintentional, as a PR person next to the CEO corrected his boss on the reference, saying that what he meant to say was 'the mid-engined sports car". Sure, right.

Related posts:
Lotus Esprit begins to take shape
Spy Shots: 2008 Lotus Esprit
Lotus will build Esprit replacement in U.K.

[Source: PistonHeads via WindingRoad]

After a sneak peak of the DBS was revealed on an upcoming cover of CAR magazine, Aston Martin has released official pics of the car James Bond will be driving in the next installment of the 007 series called Casino Royale. Aston Martin’s Design Director, Marek Reichman, has said that the DBS hints at the brand’s future design direction. He describes the styling as “encapsulating a link between our elegant DB9 road car and the powerful DBR9 race car.” Reichman again refused to disclose the arsenal of weapons that will be onboard the DBS, though we imagine we’ll see all of them in action soon enough.

More pics after the jump...

[Source: WorldCarFans]