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| Bond sells ruined DBS The Aston Martin DBS that crashed and sank to the bottom of Lake Garda during filming for the new Bond film Quantum of Solace has been bought by a collector for £200,000. The DBS was destroyed in early April, when the driver – an Aston Martin engineer - lost control of the car during a torrential race storm. The Aston smashed through the barriers and sank to the |
bottom of Lake Garda, with the driver unconscious inside. He regained consciousness when the car hit the bottom of the lake, and swam 150 feet to the surface with only minor injuries. The car was, unsurprisingly, a complete write-off, but that didn’t dissuade the unnamed enthusiast from paying some £64,000 over the list price of a brand new, working DBS for a piece of battered Bond memorabilia. Maybe he’s hoping it’ll buff out. |
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This news has us even more confused about the whole credit crunch, though. |
almost all the Aston One-77s have already been bought and that a smashed-up, rusty lump of soggy DBS is worth £200k. What’s going on? |
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| Above Story from http://www.topgear.com/uk/car-news/aston-martin-james-bond |
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| You wouldn't want to be the stunt driver turning up for work today at the James Bond set. Thankfully he's alive but when he got the plum job of driving a spanking new Aston Martin DBS to the set – the only one available in the world – you'd be tempted to give the accelerator a little squeeze as you blasted along the beautiful twisting roads of Lake Garda in Italy, wouldn't you? |
However, there is no such suggestion the stunt driver was doing anything iffy but in heavy rain he lost control on a narrow curve and tipped himself - and the iconic car – off a cliff and into the lake. He totalled the car suffering only minor injuries himself. Italian TV have shown pictures of the Aston being winched out of the lake, twisted carbon fibre, a flatten roof and caved-in bonnet. |
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| Ooh, that’s got to hurt... the insurers. 007’s latest flick Quantum of Solace has certainly thrown up its usually array of on-set stories, including an attempted drive-trough protest by a Chilean mayor - scattering Daniel Craig and the cast - as well as hotties Gemma Arterton and Kurylenko regularly getting their bare flesh in the papers. The latest film is due out later this year. See more pics here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7357847.stm |
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Above Story from http://www.megastar.co.uk/news/news-single-view/article/7/bonds-aston-write-off.html |
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| James Bond's Totalled Aston Martin DBS Sells for £200K | ||
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| It's a Bond car that's seen action at the bottom of Lake Garda, Italy. But that action won't make it to cinema screens, for this Aston Martin DBS is no amphibian - it's a somewhat costly wreck. But that hasn't stopped one James Bond fan from getting his hands on the write-off - but amazingly at above list price. Actor Daniel Craig revealed the unusual sale in an interview on the new Quantum of Solace film, the collector paying a staggering £200,000 for the totalled Aston - some £66,000 over a list-price (and of course fully-functioning) £134k DBS. One assumes the duped buyer realises that the damage may be more than superficial. Fished out of the Italian lake in the vicinity of the Bond location it was being taken to, the DBS's driver had a lucky escape, being knocked unconscious on entry into the water and freeing himself after being submerged - with his vehicle - some 150ft. Bond 22, Craig's second outing as the British spy, hits cinemas next month. |
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While filming the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, the stunt driver of Bond’s $200,000 Aston Martin, misjudged and drove off a cliff into 150 feet of water, knocking him out. 29 year old Fraser Dunn came to and managed to swim to shore with only minor injuries. Police weren’t amused, he was fined about $800 for dangerous driving. Source: Ananova |
Which Aston Martins has James Bond Driven? A silver 1963 DB 5 coupe was used in Golfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965) - Sean Connery. It was the first one off the production line - A 1969 DBS was used in On Her majesty's Secret Service (1969) - George Lazenby - A new V8 Vantage Volante was used in The Living Daylights (1987) - Timothy Dalton - Goldeneye (1995) - Pierce Brosnan - featured a classic DB 5 again (a different one) but the official Q car was a 1995 BMW Z 3. Die Another Day (2002) - Pierce Brosnan - featured a 2002 model V12 Vanquish - |
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| Overzealous driver wrecks Aston Martin on-route to new Bond film | ||
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| A $267,000 Aston Martin DBS on-route to the new James Bond film “Quantum Of Solace” was wrecked when the over-excited technician driving the car decided to test the car’s power and ended up testing its safety features as it plummeted into Italy’s Lake Garda. Ironically, the car was slated to be used in a car chase scene in the movie where a truck crashes and falls into the lake while the car speeds off without a scratch. What a twist! The car was being driven from the British Aston Martin factory to the movie set when the technician, 29-year-old Fraser Dunn, decided to try out his secret agent driving skills down a narrow, winding mountain road. Guess what? His driving skills weren’t that impressive. A witness said Dunn was driving at an excessive speed so it was not surprising he crashed the car. Dunn lost control of the car as it skidded off the road, into an iron railing, and fell into the lake. Astonishingly, the car was wrecked but Dunn was able to free himself from the vehicle and swim to shore. He is reported to have suffered very minor injuries. That’s good news for anyone in the market for the car. Now you can wreck it while being assured you won’t be mangled along with the car. This guy is probably going to get fired. What a way to go out with a bang though. Can you imagine him when he tries to get another job: Employer: “So Mr. Dunn, why were you fired from Aston Martin?” Dunn: “Well, I was given the simple task of driving a $250,000+ car from the factory to the set of the new James Bond movie when I decided to speed down a road, lost control of the car, and destroyed it, all while I went for a little swim.” Employer: “Yeah, I don’t think you’re what we’re looking for. Thanks though” |
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| Above Story from>> http://www.itstrulyrandom.com/2008/04/20/overzealous-driver-wrecks-aston-martin-on-route-to-new-bond-film/ |
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| Drive like James Bond with the Aston Martin DBS 2008 Casino Royale - 15-06-07 Ah, the sweet life of James Bond. Those custom made Brioni suits, the finest of hotels, Omega wristwatches, vintage champagne and caviar, a license to kill and oh, those amazing cars, especially the new 2008 Aston Martin DBS - reports Yahoo. Throughout the film series, from the classic Aston Martin DB5 in "Goldfinger" to the car-turned-submarine Lotus Esprit S1 in "The Spy Who Loved Me", James Bond has had his share of vehicles to die for. And those that kill. But the one constant about the Bond vehicles is the cutting-edge gadgetry designed and installed by Q. Take the bulletproof DB5 from "Goldfinger", conceived more than 40 years ago. Equipped with evasive gadgets like a smoke screen and oil slick, dual machine guns, tire spikes and, the most Bond of all features, an ejecting passenger seat, the silver Aston Martin helped to create the Bond persona for the entire series. "These cars act like characters in the Bond films," says Michael Isabell of EyeSpyfilms.com, who is working on a documentary about James Bond fan culture, "Besides the fact that the cars have a lot of technology, they always seem to get him out trouble as well. Also, there is something sexy about a beautiful girl in a beautiful car too." So it comes as no surprise to see the same 1965 Aston Martin DB5 appears in the latest Bond film, "Casino Royale" too. But the car that garners the viewer's attention is the awesomely cool 2008 Aston Martin DBS. The vehicle says something about of the exclusive nature of Bond's status. The fact that he drives a vehicle of such élan, taste and exclusivity – the DBS doesn't come on the market until October of 2007 – says something about Her Majesty's Secret Service clout at the Aston dealership. A team of Aston Martin engineers worked closely with the film production company to provide both technical support and quite a few DBS models during the production. The DBS in the film features a hidden weapon compartment, life-saving high-tech equipment and, if you've seen the movie, more accident safety features than a soccer mom's Volvo wagon. None of these features will be available to the average consumer, of course. While Aston Martin is somewhat tight-lipped on the DBS's specs, look for the model to build upon the heritage of classic production models and their recent racecars, the DBR9 specifically. Basically, the DBS is a racecar in street clothing and is what you expect of a car befitting Bond. Providing more power – a rumored 500-horsepower V-12 is under the hood – and luxury than the already luxurious Aston DB9, it is said that Aston Martin will build only 300 examples of the DBS for budding Bonds the world over. "The Aston Martin and James Bond relationship is one of cinema's longest and most durable product placements. There is something that is indeterminable about the Bond character that is so well reflected in an Aston Martin," says Tim Watson, VP Communications & Public Affairs, Aston Martin, "In everybody that buys an Aston Martin, there is an element of Bond in them." When asked to elaborate on this, Watson grins, "People don't really get to be Bond. I always say to them, 'Bond, he's not real." They don’t call it movie magic for nothing. |
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