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[mattbowyer]

Sydney Daily Telegraph..


Bond's car: die another way
By Stuart Martin
December 03, 2002

BOND-mania has hit Sydney thanks to 007's latest adversary's weapon of choice, the Jaguar XKR convertible.


Optional extras on Bond's XKR include rear-fitted rockets and missiles in the nose / Craig Greenhill


One of a fleet of prestige cars in the new James Bond film Die Another Day, the XKR was given a workout at Fox Studios yesterday when stunt driver Glenn Suter wheeled the $235,000-plus Jaguar around a sound stage to Bond music and fireworks.

One of eight XKRs modified at Pinewood studios, the green XKR has the Gatling gun perched above the seats.

Others were modified using various Ford 4WD components for chase scenes on ice filmed in Iceland. The extras fitted to this car won't be found on any Jaguar options list.

The supercharged XKR has an arsenal under its elegant skin that includes mortars and rockets in the boot, the requisite bullet-proof shields and an array of missiles in the nose.

Jaguar Australia chief Danny Rezek says it's good timing for the company's Australian release of the 2003 XK, but says it is hard to evaluate sales the car's appearance in the film will generate.

"It will be enormous in the sense that the Bond franchise is probably the biggest and best. It's a fantastic film and Jaguar has a good part in some fantastic driving scenes on the ice lakes.

"It will put Jaguar in the minds of the younger audience but it's difficult to know just how much."

He says the green paint worn by the cars in the film as well as the team's F1 race cars, was not currently available on production cars, but an overwhelming response to the hue might change the company's mind.

Also on hand were two models in $700 La Perla bikinis, which Halle Berry wears in the film, inspired by the swimsuit worn by Ursula Andress in the first Bond film Dr No.

Jaguar had to run the cars past police and Customs because of the replica weaponry, and employ an armed guard who was not allowed to let the car out of his sight.

Most of the film's four-wheeled stars come under the Ford-owned Premier Automotive Group, including Bond's return to a British nameplate