31 replies to this topic

[shady ginzo]

Now on the main page...

Ford Sells Aston Martin In $924 Million Deal

Sold to UK motorsport firm, Prodrive

I couldn't see this discussed elsewhere, sorry if it has been.

Ford are holding a press conference, within the next few minutes infact, to announce the buyer of Aston Martin. Once this buyer assumes control I see no reason why an aston martin car could be elligable for use in Bond 22 under Ford's vehicle placement contract. To me this does seems to be putting an end to Aston Martin's all to short run of appearances in Die Another Day and Casino Royale, perhaps somebody out there can give me some hope!!?

[00Twelve]

Don't know if we can give you much hope on this one. As Ford will no longer own Aston, but the Ford contract will (presumably) still be in place, it looks like it therefore cannot be an Aston in Bond 22. It will most likely be a Jag, and to be honest, that's not neccessarily bad news at all. Actually, I'm pretty relieved that we won't have an obligatory signature Aston in every single film. I do hope that when this contract w/ Ford runs out, EON will drop them like a bad habit.

[vosne]

a reminder: Ford will retain 15% ownership of Aston which, at the $925,000,000 price tag, amounts to lots of equity. Frankly I'm surprised that they weren't more aggressive about selling Jaguar since it was a real loser, profit-wise, while Aston was just beginning to make money for the company.
Jags are nice and still fir with the Bond legasy since it was between a Jag and a DBIII that the literary Bond had to choose.

[Judo chop]

Jag, huh?

I'd prefer to see the Aston, at least with Craig's films, for the sake of consistency. (For the moment please disregard all of my previous posts heartily disavowing the necessity for continuity in the series).

Still, between a Jag and BMW, I'd rather see Bond in a Jag.

[Qwerty]

Here's a link with info on the sale: http://commanderbond...n...&item=39868

[jaguar007]

I have absolutely NO problem with Bond behind the wheel of a Jaguar. In fact I have always dreamed of it happening

[Mister Asterix]

[mra]One wonders what the actual contract with Ford says. There may be a possibility that it specifies the use of Aston Martins. But still I

[Sigma7]

I think Bond needs his Aston, hopefully they dont screw up by not giving him one

[Trident]

If this deal really means no Aston for Bond 22 and if it turns out to become a Jaguar, I wouldn't be disappointed at all.

Jaguar has some promising models up for 2008 and the following years. My personal favourite would be the C-XF as shown here:

http://www.carpages....-1-03-01-07.asp

It's the designated replacement for the S-type-series that will see its end of production then.

Anyway, I see no reason why Bond should run out of acceptable personal transport.


PS:

For years I'm longing to see Bond in action with a Range Rover. The Range Rover Sports model would make for adequate transport on road and performance in difficult landscapes. But thats just my two pennys...

Edited by Trident, 12 March 2007 - 06:58 PM.

[SilencedPPK]

I don't want an Aston Martin for Bond 22. I would rather see another car for the next movie, but I would like to see Aston Martin's in future Bond films. I clicked on the link above and I was amazed. It certainly does look like a Bond car.

[Bryce (003)]

Well...I certainly have no problems with Bond being behind the wheel of a Jaguar.

Although maybe they could have the DB5 he took off Dimitros showing up occasionally. That would be nice IMO. Then again, I kind of saw the crash of the AM in CR as a sort of 'swan song" to the Aston's in future films.

Then again, an AM is as much a part of the cinematic Bond as the Bentley was to the literary 007.

Time will tell.

[Trident]

I clicked on the link above and I was amazed. It certainly does look like a Bond car.

Sure does. And one hardly notices it's a saloon, not a sportscoup

[K1Bond007]

One wonders what the actual contract with Ford says. There may be a possibility that it specifies the use of Aston Martins.

This is what I'm thinking. I doubt for all the obvious reasons that they'd sign a contract with Ford and not throw in a clause like this. It's one thing to see Bond using a Ford briefly as a rental, but as his main car where it's not under similar circumstances as Diamonds Are Forever (a nice Mustang in a US locale)? I don't think EON should be forced to use Jaguar because it's now the nicest Bondian car that Ford has to offer...

If there isn't a clause like that (well I'd be surprised) then I'd rather they just throw in the DB5 as Bond's main car and use Ford for others. It'd be nice to see it get into a wreck, Bond then gets the bill and M doesn't reimburse him because it's his personal car. A good way to piss him off a little bit more.

[Trident]

Although maybe they could have the DB5 he took off Dimitros showing up occasionally. That would be nice IMO.

Oh yes! That would be a nice nod. I like the idea of showing Bond's private car and of it being a classic. And the way he acquired it seems fitting too.

[Qwerty]

Now on the main page...

Ford Sells Aston Martin In $924 Million Deal

Sold to UK motorsport firm, Prodrive

[stromberg]

Never saw the Aston Martins as "product placement" in the first place. It's a nice little extra, but a car in that price range doesn't really need product placement.

Aston was the horse in their stable that made the marketing deal possible at all. The main product placement, that's for all the other - affordable - Ford cars. If Ford can get enough of those into the next movie (and I'm sure they will), they won't have anything against the fact that Bond will drive his original and traditional car, of which they still own 15%.

I find the prospect of Aston returning to Formula 1 far more interesting (especially if we get any Bond involvement with it). David Ricards' Prodrive has got a F1 license for 2008, so, nothing is impossible.

[Astonman]

For the sake of James Bond always being paired with Aston Martin, I think there needs to be an Aston Martin in the next film even though they will not be under Ford anymore. I refuse to see Bond in a Jaguar.

[Dell Deaton]

I think Bond needs his Aston, hopefully they dont screw up by not giving him one

As I've listened to this news story on local radio station WJR in Southeast Michigan (Dearborn, where Ford World Headquarters is located, is serves that listening area and is the automotive voice for The Big Three), "James Bond" has been mentioned every time the topic is covered. Some power for product placement, if you ask me!

WJR is an ABC News affiliate. And, sure enough, the following appears on page 2 of their story titled, "Ford Sells Major Stake in Aston Martin."

Actor Daniel Craig drove the DBS in "Casino Royale" and the first 007 Sean Connery drove an Aston Martin DB5 in the 1964 Bond movie "Goldfinger."

Versions of the car also appeared in a number of other 007 films, including "Thunderball," "The Living Daylights," "Goldeneye" and "Die Another Day."

"Versions of the car"--? Would that be as in, "Versions of the car that were never made available to the public"? LOL

Trivia question: What's missing from this list?

[stromberg]

Trivia question: What's missing from this list?[/font][/color]

The DBS from OHMSS (oh, and maybe the one of which a brief glimpse can be caught in DAF )

[Trident]

I find the prospect of Aston returning to Formula 1 far more interesting (especially if we get any Bond involvement with it). David Ricards' Prodrive has got a F1 license for 2008, so, nothing is impossible.

But F1 means the needs for extensive funds, especially if a contender isn't satisfied with just being amongst the rest of the field. So I'm a bit sceptic about AM's potential in the F1 series. Much as I would love to see Astons back in Grand Prix racing, I fear they first of all would need potent financial backing by a big name in car-manufacturing and buy some seasoned and experienced know-how from the other contenders. And even with the necessary funds and knowledge, success is by far not a sure bet, as seen with Toyota.

Still, Astons in F1 would make a great sight!

[Daddy Bond]

I heard that Craig is going to be in a Ford Focus for most of the next Bond film.

Regards

[Bucky]

Trivia question: What's missing from this list?[/font][/color]

The DBS from OHMSS (oh, and maybe the one of which a brief glimpse can be caught in DAF )

also tomorrow never dies but that was a really short cameo by the car compared to goldeneye

[stromberg]

I find the prospect of Aston returning to Formula 1 far more interesting (especially if we get any Bond involvement with it). David Ricards' Prodrive has got a F1 license for 2008, so, nothing is impossible.

But F1 means the needs for extensive funds, especially if a contender isn't satisfied with just being amongst the rest of the field. So I'm a bit sceptic about AM's potential in the F1 series. Much as I would love to see Astons back in Grand Prix racing, I fear they first of all would need potent financial backing by a big name in car-manufacturing and buy some seasoned and experienced know-how from the other contenders. And even with the necessary funds and knowledge, success is by far not a sure bet, as seen with Toyota.

Still, Astons in F1 would make a great sight!

Yes, money could become a problem. But Richards is no stranger to F1 and made BAR runner-up in 2004, so getting some experienced staff shouldn't be the main problem. Fact: Richardson has got a license, and he's got his hands on the Aston Martin name. Temptation will be there. Also, a lot of the money behind him is of Kuwaitian origin, and given how race-crazy some wealthy Arabs are, there maybe more where this came from.

But you're right, money isn't everything (your Toyota example hits the nail on the head), and I'm very sceptical myself that it'll really happen. But one can still dream

[K1Bond007]

I find the prospect of Aston returning to Formula 1 far more interesting (especially if we get any Bond involvement with it). David Ricards' Prodrive has got a F1 license for 2008, so, nothing is impossible.

It's impossible
http://www.autosport...ne.php/id/57255

Or so he says anyway

[Dell Deaton]

Trivia question: What's missing from this list?

The DBS from OHMSS (oh, and maybe the one of which a brief glimpse can be caught in DAF )

also tomorrow never dies but that was a really short cameo by the car compared to goldeneye

Your Tomorrow Never Dies cameo reference here reminds me of a fantasy I've had for a while in terms of what I'd liked to have seen just prior to the prisoner exchange sequence in Die Another Day.

To mark the passage of time and personalize the impact of Bond's absence, I thought it would have been great to have had Moneypenny interacting w/ the DB5 which, frankly, was in every Brosnan 007 film except his last. Perhaps simply "visiting," touching it in a parking garage somewhere. Or, to really set up a "we're not expecting him to come back" point, Samantha Bond could have driven it to a place where it was obviously going to be auctioned and/or sold, handing over the keys.

Yup-- call me sentimental....

[darkpath]

Isn't Prodrive the outfit that Mazda called on to produce the RX-8 PZ special edition available in the UK?


It sounds like this is an outfit that's already got a relationship with various Ford divisions (at least with Mazda and now they've got a whole huge bag of luxury/exotic with a Ford slant).

[Qwerty]

Sky News did a short history of Aston Martin article...

http://commanderbond...n...&item=39884

[bill007]

a reminder: Ford will retain 15% ownership of Aston....

In the movies....

Bond's cars:
Aston Martin DB5 - Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Casino Royale
Aston Martin DBS - On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Casino Royale
Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante - The Living Daylights
Aston Martin V12 Vanquish - Die Another Day
Lotus Esprit S1 - The Spy Who Loved Me
Lotus Esprit Turbo - For Your Eyes Only
BMW Z3 - GoldenEye
BMW 750iL - Tomorrow Never Dies
BMW Z8 - The World Is Not Enough

Villan cars
Jaguar - Die Another Day and Casino Royale

And as vosne points out: Ford still owns 15% of Aston Martin. Here's hoping that this 15% will be the driving force to keep Aston Martin as Bond's primary modus operandi.

[Dell Deaton]

Anyone want to stand up and be counted as arguing that this opens the door for James Bond in a Bentley?

[tbp82]

IF the contract with Ford doesn't specify Aston Martin then Bond loses his *new* Aston that doesn't mean he can't drive an older DB5. I could see it being like the BMW situation in Brosnan's films. He has the DB5 as his personal car and the BMW was issued by Q branch. If the contract is for Ford then he can have the DB5 and then the Jag gets issued to him.