Autoblog

As if being chosen to play the consummate British secret agent wasn't enough for Daniel Craig to brag about, the current 007 has been extended a free pass to drive Aston Martin's best cars any time he pleases. And he isn't limited to driving on the street. Aston has made its test track available to the faux agent. Craig must be quite the Ambassador to the brand to be granted such special privileges. Unfortunately, Mr. Bond seems to have no intentions of actually going out and purchasing one for himself, saying, "I could drive it faster and more furiously [on the track] than anywhere on the road. I live in London [and] it doesn't make any sense to drive an Aston Martin there. I've nowhere to park it." Yeah, we know how you feel, Daniel. That's the reason all of on the Autoblog staff don't own Astons too... nowhere to park.

[Source: Contact Music]

The people behind the latest Bond films seem to have a knack for destroying perfectly good Aston Martin DBSs. First they rolled one (repeatedly) in shooting Casino Royale. Never missing an opportunity to total a perfectly good Aston, they crashed another one in a rock quarry for the opening sequence of the upcoming Quantum of Solace sequel, but not before a factory test driver tanked another one into Lake Garda in northern Italy. And while you might figure a totaled Aston would, naturally, be worth less than a new one, you've evidently underestimated the clout of the 007 mystique.

Daniel Craig, the latest actor to take up the James Bond mantle, has revealed that the tanked DBS was extracted from the Italian lake and sold to a collector for an outrageous £200,000, some 60,000 thousand pounds sterling more than the £134k price of a brand new (and functional) example of the top-of-the-line British supercar. Somebody evidently needs to explain to said collector that the DBS in question was not a working example of the submersible Lotus from For Your Eyes Only. Rinspeed's got that one covered.

[Source: What Car?]

Click above for a high-res gallery of the Ka in the movies

Ford's new Ka mini-car will be making its official debut at the Paris Motor Show in early October, but it already has a bit part in the next James Bond movie. Since the success of Casino Royale and the walk on part played by the then-new Mondeo, Ford has taken up the automotive product placement mantle in all Bond movies for the foreseeable future. Unlike the Mondeo, which Bond picked up from a Caribbean rental car counter, the Ka, which shares a platform with the Fiat 500, will apparently be tossed around by the super spy's feminine counterpart. Ford hasn't given any indication that it will bring the Ka to the US market, but given recent announcements about globalizing its products, a Stateside Ka certainly can't be counted out. In the meantime, we can see if the Ka can fly like an Aston Martin DBS when Quantum of Solace hits theaters in November.


[Source: Ford]

Few would argue that actor Daniel Craig revived the James Bond series with the movie Casino Royale in 2006. That film featured the Aston Martin DBS as Bond's personal whip, though he was caught driving what was then Ford's brand new Mondeo family sedan from the airport to the hotel, as well. It appears another one of Ford's more pedestrian offerings will make a cameo in the next Bond film titled Quantum of Solace that's scheduled to debut on November 7, 2008. The new cast member will be the next generation Ford Ka small car. The video after the jump shows the car (around 2:24 in) being used in filming. No doubt another Aston Martin will appear as well, despite the fact that Ford has sold off the brand. After all, how could Craig stay in character driving an entry-level three-door hatchback the entire film?

[Source: Motor Authority]