Expensive Bond cars?
07/28/2023
The Aston Martin V8 from 1973 almost goes a little under the radar at the RM/Sotheby's auction in Monterey( August 17 to 19, 2023) with over 200 cars, but when you read the estimate of USD 1.4 to 1.8 million at the latest, you realize that this cannot be an ordinary V8, as the chassis number V8/10596/R would actually imply.
In fact, the car was used in the 1987 James Bond film "The Living Daylights" and the Aston excelled on an icy lake and in high-speed driving maneuvers. A few Q-tricks not only helped the car to achieve an impressive long jump ability, but also to move forward on ski slopes. And all this without four-wheel drive.
The Aston Martin V8 was actually from the early years of production and was completed on October 27, 1973. Painted in Tudor Green metallic and equipped with fuel injection and automatic transmission, it was certainly ideally suited as a gentleman's means of transportation.
13 years later, the film company EON came into possession of the Aston, which in the meantime was probably no longer quite as fresh as dew and therefore cheap. The car was subsequently brought closer to the current V8 models with various plastic parts. A sunroof was installed and the wheels and color were matched to the other film cars. An engine and gearbox were deemed unnecessary for the stunts - after all, it was going down the mountain on the ski slope.
At the end of the film, car number 10 was no longer needed and years later it became part of a movie car collection.
In 2021, the car was taken over by a private owner who wanted to drive it again. Accordingly, a suitable V8 including gearbox was procured and installed.
Even the jet drive was made "passable", at least visually. Now, however, the movie coupé is to find a new owner in Monterey for USD 1.4 to 1.8 million .
Anyone who thinks this will set a new record for Bond cars is mistaken. Because back in September 2022, the Aston Martin DB5, which was maltreated in many stunts in the 2021 film "No Time to Die", was sold by Christie'sfor an impressive GBP 2.922 million, which would be USD 3.77 million at the time of writing.
With the exception of its shape, the DB5 sold had little to do with an Aston Martin, as some of the technology came from BMW or rallycross cars. The chassis was specially made for the purpose and the body was fitted over it. The car is also unlikely to have been road-legal. But Bond always pulls ...
_RM.jpg)
