James Bond is just as synonymous with Aston Martin as he is with the numerals 007. But the announcement of a new Bond film is always a tense moment: Bond’s four-wheeled co-star hasn’t always been a DB. For a dark period he was partnered with BMW, and there was a recent scare that MI6 might stick Bond in a Fiat 500 (as if they were having money troubles).
Much to the delight of Bond fans everywhere, Aston Martin remains Bond’s ride in this new installment. The film’s titled Spectre, after the international terrorist organization from Ian Fleming‘s original spy novels (Special Executive for Counterintelligence, Terrorism, Revenge, and Extortion); the car is the DB10, a new concept made just for the movie. And much like the film, very little is known about the car outside of its name.
What we do know is that no more than ten DB10s were developed especially for filming — and that the DB10, which uses the platform of the DB9, is likely to get an older Vantage-sourced 4.7-liter V8 rather than a top-end V12 like the Vanquish. But what’s more interesting is that Aston Martin’s partnership with AMG as an engine supplier is somewhere on the horizon. While the V8 from the SLS paired a to a new Vantage would be quite tasty, the only known AMG-sourced V12 on the road is found in the back of the Pagani Zonda and Huayra.
Most exciting for fans of Bond and Aston alike, execs say the DB10 is actually a hint at the design language of their future lineup, and as filming gets underway, more details and images should begin popping up. We’ll be waiting.