007 comeback for classic Aston Martin car

THE Aston Martin DB5 will return in the next instalment of James Bond's adventures.

Bond Cars

THE Aston Martin DB5 seems a little pedestrian compared with some of the cars James Bond has commandeered in the past 50 years, but the sportscar classic will return in the next instalment of the spy's adventures.

One of the crew working on Skyfall, the 23rd film in the Bond series, yesterday said filmmakers had borrowed "a couple of DB5s", suggesting the car first seen in Goldfinger 48 years ago may be involved in a chase scene.

One of the original Goldfinger Aston Martins is the star exhibit of the Bond in Motion show at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire. The museum has been transformed into a rest home for vehicles developed by Q Branch since shooting began on Doctor No 50 years ago yesterday.

Highlights of the exhibition, which contains the largest number of Bond vehicles ever assembled, include the Lotus Esprit S1 driven by Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me and the Crocodile submarine from Octopussy.

Not all are in top condition. Chris Corbould, special effects supervisor for the Bond films, said the scuffs and dents on the cars used in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace were real, unlike the cosmetic bullet holes. "It brings tears to my eyes, doing that to these cars," he said. "For Casino Royale, the car did seven rolls, which broke the world record. We didn't set out to do that, it just happened."

Special effects team member John Holmes said cars such as the Aston Martin V12 Vanquish in Die Another Day were entirely different from standard models.

"For Die Another Day, we went along to Ford and said we needed a four-wheel drive version of the Aston Martin Vanquish and they said it couldn't be done. We said, just give us the cars, and we did it ourselves."

Bond actors sometimes get carried away, Mr Holmes said. One of his colleagues was sitting next to Pierce Brosnan in the Aston Martin used for Die Another Day when the actor was taking it for a run at Pinewood Studios. "All of a sudden they were driving out of the gate. It had Mickey Mouse number plates and no tax disc or insurance or anything. Pierce just said: 'Don't worry, I'm James Bond.' "

Several Bond girls visited the exhibition, including Britt Ekland, who played Bond's bumbling accomplice Holly Goodnight in The Man with the Golden Gun. She said she felt nostalgic for the days when directors could not retouch stunts with computer-generated effects.