Where did Bond get the V8 Vantage? (possible spoilers)
MrZareba
Krakow, PolandPosts: 1,775MI6 Agent
I'm sure it was discussed before somewhere to some extent but I was just trying to think of a reason why Bond has yet another old Aston Martin sitting in a storage. The DB5 was obviously won back in Casino Royale (they even say it in the official podcast that this is meant to be that very same car, despite the obvious change of the driver position).
For a second I thought that maybe it's his fathers, thing is that his dad was already dead by the time the the V8 hit production. So I have no clue and I'm curious about your ideas!
Comments
I don't think there can be any logical explanation on this one. It's just in there almost as a cameo, a nod to Tim's Bond. I don't think we're supposed to question how/why/where etc. Again, it could be discussed until the cows come home, down to the different timelines/multiverse rigmarole. I just try and ignore that old chestnut and enjoy it's screen time.
They were obviously aware of how popular the DB5 unveiling scene was in SF and tried to recreate that. I personally loved having it back, one of my favourite scenes in the whole film, and it was underused IMHO.
I agree with The Red Kind and would have said the same thing if he hadn't got there first.
The way I look at it, at some point (possibly after retiring) Bond probably was looking through Auto Trader or something like that and spotted an Aston Martin V8 and fancied it. That's easy enough to explain, but then of course it has the same number plate as the Living Daylights car. So that's a bit of a head scratcher, but personally I prefer to leave my head untouched and just go along with it. TLD is a particular favourite film of mine, and I think the Aston Martin V8 is an underrated car so I'm glad it got some time in the spotlight in NTTD.
😄Great minds..🍻
Cary Joji Fukunaga said he always liked the AM Vantage and wanted it in…he said he thought it possible Bond won this one - like the DB5 - in another card game.
I hope 007 put his mechanic in his will! Those old cars need a lot of maintenance! Goodness knows what other goodies he had stored away... Someone please look after his wine cellar! Who gets the house in Jamaica???
That's a whole other series!
"Yeah, my Uncle who passed away used to work for the British Government... Check out this humidor and his gun collection..."
My confident but unproven answer: it was supposed to be Lazenby's car, which makes perfect thematic sense with the end song. Maybe for whatever reason they couldn't get the DBS and had to go with Dalton's car.
Incidentally there are a pair of skis behind the car in the garage, OHMSS fans and Living Daylight fans can debate each other over that significance.
Someone was certainly waxing it: I've never seen a car with bodywork that shiny! :)
And there's no way it would have started first time either :D
I simply enjoyed seeing it. Haha.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Well, lest we not forget that these films are fiction and require a certain suspension of disbelief, even when it comes to cars.
I have my own imaginary explanation for Bond's (at least DC's Bond) acquisition of beautiful vintage Aston's (even Astons tricked out with state of the art weapons and gadgets. Bond has a passion for vintage Aston's. While he is not a huge collector with a fleet of valuable cars, he always manages to have one, if not two, on hand. Well, like we like to say in Philly: "I know a guy". Bond is a lifetime Intelligence Officer who rose to the level of a "OO". He knows people, he has connections, he has access, he probably has people who owe him. Bond probably has access to cars that have been impounded by the government (tax evasion cases, narcotics trafficking, etc) that eventually get auctioned off or destroyed and what's left of out of service "OO" Aston's. If he can't coerce Q branch into kitting out his cars, he probably knows someone "off the books" who could do it for him. As far as the shiny Vantage that started right up and ran like a top, like many collectors, Bond probably has someone back in London who he pays to maintain the car (it's not that difficult; keep it clean and in tune and drive once a week) and keep it in ready to drive condition.
Yeah, even in the Craig films it seems that Q Branch have a real thing for giving everyone Astons (three double-O agents at least get given them!!) so I guess it's reasonable to guess that it's an old decommissioned Q car which Bond bought for a knockdown price from them. Or he threatened Q's cats.
Just so! Well said. It's rather like Bond escaping from detention in DAD and walking into a hotel in Hong Kong in pajamas, and having the connections to be shaven and comfortably lodged in the next scene. That sort of thing is what makes Bond...well, James Bond.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I found the idea that he got a perfect, close shave from an electric shaver to be the most unbelievable thing 😁
Movie aside, I bet the AMV8 will shoot up in value now - I remember around 10 years ago they were worth like 50k dollars, now they're sitting on a comfortable 200k but after the movie I kinda feel the screen accurate versions in cumberland grey might be closer to the DB5 sooner or later.
MI6 has a garage known only to double 00s where it has a bunch of Aston Martins stashed.
Funny thought - Silva was an MI6 agent from 1986 to 1997 (I presume a 00, although it's never specified in Skyfall). So chances are he was actually driving an Aston like that.
I have heard a few average cinema goes say "why are the media talking about who will be next to play Bond when Bond has died" This is why I think the producers muddy the waters by throwing in stuff like the the V8 and portraits of Robert Browne, you have normies thinking that the Bond is like a soap character and that it's been the same Bond universe for 26 movies.
Absolutely John. To the average movie goer, James Bond is always the same man. James Bond. I think he ultimately is to us too. Yes, altered timelines/anomalies etc, but we see past it. James Bond is James Bond.