Aston Martin has taken the covers off of its new model, called the DB10. Those assuming that, as one number follows another, this is the replacement for the long-lived DB9 sports car would be wrong, however.
In fact, according to new Aston Martin boss Andy Palmer, this will be one of the most exclusive cars Aston Martin has ever built. Just 10 will be made, all by hand, and they are all for one customer.
No, not commander James Bond; fictional characters can't enter into car sales agreements. The customer is EON Productions, which held a press conference at Pinewood Studios to announce the cast and title of the 24th entry in the James Bond film canon, Spectre.
Aston Martin used the event to unveil the DB10, all 10 of which will be used by EON on set and driven by current 007 Daniel Craig (and one presumes a cast of thousands of stunt professionals).
It's the continuation of a 50-year association between Bond and Aston on screen – 1964 saw the release of Goldfinger, featuring the iconic DB5 with its list of questionable optional extras.
Unveiling the DB10, Palmer said that "it will be a model developed specifically for the film and built in-house by the brand's design and engineering teams. Led by Aston Martin chief creative officer, Marek Reichman, the design team worked closely with the film's director, Sam Mendes, to create the ultimate car for the world's most famous spy.
“Celebrating the great British brand’s half century with Bond, which started with the iconic DB5, the DB10 gives a glimpse to the future design direction for the next generation of Aston Martins. In the same year that we celebrate our 50-year relationship with 007, it seems doubly fitting that today we unveiled this wonderful new sports car created especially for James Bond.
“To be partnering once again with EON Productions is great news for this company and for everyone around the world that loves to see Bond at the wheel of an Aston Martin. I’m incredibly proud of everyone in the team at Gaydon who have brought this special project from concept to reality.”
Its significance beyond set-dressing at Pinewood (and the Spectre sets in Mexico, Austria, Morocco, Rome and London) are that while the DB10 will never gone on sale to the public, its shape will.
Looking distinctly more chiselled and focused than the comparatively rubicund DB9, the DB10 lays out the future for Aston Martin design – sharper edges, less flab and shorter overhangs.
Aston has given no technical details of the DB10 (which presumably means it's basically a current DB9 underneath – movie magic will fill in the gaps) but the production car that comes from it will feature both a new generation of Aston's carbon-fibre-and-aluminium chassis and a new family of engines, sourced from Mercedes-Benz, which now hold s a 5 per cent stake in the British sports car maker.
Incidentally, there is an Irish connection to all of this. Calling the new film Spectre confirms that it will see the return of classic 1960s villains Spectre and its leader, Ernst Stavro Blofled. The organisation and character have been kept away from the Bond film franchise by a long-running legal dispute between EON and the estate of Kevin McLory, the writer who co-created Spectre and Blofeld with Ian Fleming. Now resolved, the two can be brought together again.
McLory was a long-time resident of Ireland, and once owned the the one-time Straffan House in Kildare, now better known to most of us as The K Club.
