Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish to go under the hammer

MANILA: The Aston Martin Vanquish used to promote the 20th James Bond film "Die Another Day" will be up for auction next month.

H&H Classics — a European auction house — will offer the said vehicle on October 9 at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford. It is estimated to fetch some £50,000 (approximately P3.701 million) to £70,000 (around P5.181 million).

On top of being a Bond car, the soon-to-be-sold Aston Martin Vanquish was the first car to drive down the M6 Toll road to commemorate its opening.

“Our October auction offers a fantastic opportunity to own a slice of movie and motoring history with this stunning Aston Martin Vanquish,” H&H Classics Sales Manager James McWilliam said in a press release.

The Aston Martin Vanquish (predecessor of the DBS) scheduled to go under the hammer started its life as one of seven automobiles retained by the English marque for press duties. On that note, it already graced the pages of various publications before it was delivered to Pinewood Studios for a photoshoot alongside the fifth James Bond, Pierce Brosnan.

Per the auction house, it was specifically chosen for the role as it wore the same Tungsten Silver paint with Charcoal leather and aluminum center console, like the hero cars used in the movies.

Not to be confused with the actual cars used in the film (which were given the KEO2 EWW plate number), the Aston Martin Vanquish up for auction (used to promote Die Another Day) — for a time — donned the appropriate number plate “M16 SPY.” It was also registered as “A12 AML.”

Inside, the Aston Martin luxury grand tourer offered technology and materials that were considered state-of-the-art at the time.

Under its bonnet is a V-12 engine that gives the Aston Martin Vanquish a peak speed of up to 321 kilometers per hour. It only has 37,800 miles (60,833 kilometers) on the odometer and has been in the hands of its current owner for more than 20 years as part of a prominent collection.

“Additionally, as well as the close connection to James Bond and Pierce Brosnan, who himself owned a 2002 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish, the car is also a superb example of the marque’s last hand-built grand tourer,” McWilliam noted.

Unfortunately, the said Aston Martin Vanquish does not come with shotguns (concealed under the air vents), machine guns and missiles (hidden behind the radiator grille), a passenger ejector seat, and adaptive camouflage, like the one seen in the film.

Outside the silver screen, the Aston Martin Vanquish also appeared in the James Bond videogame Nightfire (available on the Nintendo Gamecube and Game Boy Advance, Sony PlayStation 2, Microsoft Xbox, and on PCs).

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