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Aston Martin DB5 stunt doubles in Skyfall created by 3D printers

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:31:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Technology, Aston Martin, Celebrities, TV/Movies

This is a spoiler alert: stop reading now if you haven't seen Skyfall and don't want to know anything about it.

There are five major stars in Skyfall, only four of them human. The fifth is the Aston Martin DB5 that makes a return to the series as a gadget car for the first time since Thunderball. The plot calls on bad things to happen to the 1964 platinum coupe, but seeing as it's worth $4.6 million, producers figured it would be better if something happened to a facsimile of the 1964 platinum coupe.

Enter Voxeljet, an Augsburg, Germany company specializing in 3D printing. The production team commissioned three one-third scale models of the DB5, and Voxeljet's industrial-sized printers layered up the 18 plastic parts that compose the unfinished model. The models were then sent to Propshop Makers in the UK for finishing work like paint and bullet holes. And then one of them was blown up...

Showing just how much the Bond provenance can do for the worth of an object, one of the remaining printed Astons was auctioned by Christie's and fetched £61,250 ($99,041 US), beating its pre-sale estimate by more than 50 percent.

Aston Martin DB5 stunt doubles in Skyfall created by 3D printers originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infographic: Which James Bond vehicles contributed most to box office bottom lines?

Jonathon Ramsey — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:59:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Performance, Aston Martin, Celebrities, Luxury, TV/Movies

Skyfall, the latest in the Bond franchise, killed it at the US box office on opening weekend, it's $88.4-million haul more than doubling the second-highest-grossing film. Mostly sticking to the best of British, the film's protagonists spend a lot of time with a Jaguar XJ, a Range Rover Sport (with a lot of Evoques in the background) and a Land Rover Defender. A Mercedes-Benz S-Class gets some love in Shanghai and the opening action scene in Turkey goes all out on some Honda CF250Rs.

Skyfall is also the return of the Aston Martin DB5, sporting the same number plate as it did in its first appearance in 1964's Goldfinger: BMT 216A. British car financing site Car Loan 4 U wondered which cars have helped Bond get the ~~girl~~ most money in theaters, and lined up the haul for every film alongside the rides they are known for.

If cars were the measure of receipts, then the DB5 owns it. The Ion Productions team will hope it can work its magic again, and it's looking good so far. Check out the full list of movies and cars in the infographic below.

Continue reading Infographic: Which James Bond vehicles contributed most to box office bottom lines?

Infographic: Which James Bond vehicles contributed most to box office bottom lines? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 15 Nov 2012 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bond film director talks about return of Aston Martin DB5

Jonathon Ramsey — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:59:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Videos, Aston Martin, Celebrities, Luxury

The coming Bond film Skyfall has gathered a monumental cast behind the camera, with American Beauty and Road to Peridition director Sam Mendes at the helm and Jarhead and No Country for Old Men cinematographer Roger Deakins at the cameras. In the latest videoblog for the production, Medes and producer Michael Wilson discuss the reappearance of legendary on-camera talent in the form of the Aston Martin DB5.

The DB5 has been seen as recently as Casino Royale, but that spent barely a moment on screen and belonged to a villain. In Skyfall, the DB5 has a fuller role, and it has the same plate number as it did in its first appearance in Goldfinger: BMT 216A. It isn't the original car, though - which has a meandering history and was stolen in Boca Raton, Florida in 1997. Not that we care; we're just waiting for the movie's release on October 26. In the meantime, you can watch the videoblog below.

Continue reading Bond film director talks about return of Aston Martin DB5

Bond film director talks about return of Aston Martin DB5 originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Honda is James Bond's two-wheeler of choice in Skyfall [w/video]

Jonathon Ramsey — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:29:00 EST

Filed under: Videos, Honda, Motorcycle, Celebrities

Compared to his variety in cars, James Bond doesn't often throw a leg over a motorcycle. Yet this year's Skyfall, due in October, will mark the second time in as many movies that Bond has tangled with the bad guys on two wheels. This time, though, EON Productions has partnered with Honda so everyone is on Honda CRF250R motorcycles made to look like local Turkish bikes. They were used for the action scenes and by the stunt crews, while the CRF450R was used for camera crews.

Now that the Honda 'Police' and 'Street Merchant's' bikes have done their business, they are on display at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England as part of an exhibit of 50 years of James Bond's various rides - with wheels and without. Have a read of the release below for more info on the motos and how you can win tickets to the museum exhibit. We've also included the trailer for Skyfall where, if you watch very closely, for a fraction of a second we think you can see one of those very bikes flipping through the air.

Continue reading Honda is James Bond's two-wheeler of choice in Skyfall [w/video]

Honda is James Bond's two-wheeler of choice in Skyfall [w/video] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Former Stig signs on as Bond stunt driver

Zach Bowman — Thu, 10 May 2012 08:58:00 EST

Filed under: Etc., Celebrities

Ben Collins is staying busy. The former Stig has once again returned to stunt driving, this time for the upcoming James Bond film Skyfall. According to The Mirror, Collins has been spotted filming in Istanbul, where he took the wheel to ram a Land Rover into an Audi during a crash scene.

The stunt vehicle used a special cage on the roof, where the stunt driver can manipulate the SUV with the actors inside. Collins has a long history of working with the Bond franchise. The TV personality turned stuntman worked on both "Quantum of Solace" and "Casino Royale," though he's also worked on other films as well.

In Collins' memoir, "The Man in the White Suit," the driver turned author describes how he juggled his time in the Army, on Top Gear, as a race driver and a stunt driver at the same time. As you may recall, the BBC attempted to prevent the memoir from being published at all, but lost the lawsuit in which it alleged revealing the Stig's identity would breach Collins' contract.

Former Stig signs on as Bond stunt driver originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 10 May 2012 08:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aston Martin DB5 rejoining James Bond franchise for Skyfall

Noah Joseph — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:58:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Etc., Aston Martin, Celebrities

James Bond has driven a lot of fine machinery over the years. And most of them have been Aston Martins. But few have been as iconic - or as constant - as the classic DB5.

The iconic Aston first appeared - complete with machine guns, revolving license plate, ejector seat and chariot-style slicing wheel knockoffs - in 1964's Goldfinger, and has since returned to reprise the role in Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and (most recently) in Casino Royale. And now it's been spotted on the set of the upcoming fresh installment of the 007 franchise, Skyfall.

Although this won't be the first time the DB5 (pictured above as featured in Goldfinger) has returned since the Sean Connery days, it is expected to be the first time it will appear in full battle array in a chase scene.

Aston Martin DB5 rejoining James Bond franchise for Skyfall originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 14 Feb 2012 09:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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