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Aston Martin CEO dreams of an electric future for James Bond

With an endless stream of leggy models, futuristic weapons, and a dashing wardrobe, James Bond can rightfully be associated with indulgence. But his car of choice may soon take on a more ecologic bent by way of electric motor and some batteries. So says Andy Palmer, who is predicting an electric vehicle in Bond's future. EVS are 'almost as inevitable as death and tax.' - Andy Palmer Palmer, of course, is CEO of Aston Martin. As he said in a recent interview with CNBC, mass adoption of electrified vehicles is "almost as inevitable as death and tax," and that will extend to Bond – James Bond – as well. Take a look at CNBC's one-minute video clip with Palmer here. The fictional character has been linked to Aston Martin since the third James Bond film, 1964's Goldfinger. In it, the spy, then played by Sean Connery, drove an Aston Martin DB5. Most recently, Aston Martin built James Bond's DB10 especially for the 2015 film Spectre. The lure for the spy would be less the environmental statement and more the fact that electric cars have a ton of torque and can take off like a shot, says Palmer. He should know, having joined Nissan in 1991 and playing a key role in the development of the Nissan Leaf. He also pushed Nissan to add an electric powertrain to the Infiniti LE with the goal to do so by 2014, but by that year he'd left Nissan for Aston Martin. As for the UK automaker, it said last year that it was working with investment firm ChinaEquity on fitting the Aston Martin Rapide with an electric powertrain by 2017, and the car may have as much as 1,000 horsepower, too, which should be plenty for Bond. The company may also be working on an all-electric DBX SUV.

Favorite vehicles of 2017

The Autoblog staff has driven a lot of vehicles in 2017. This video showcases our favorite vehicles from this year, along with some thoughts on why they made the list. Wanna read more head over to https://www.autoblog.com/photos/best-drivers-cars-2017/ Aston Martin Audi Ford Jeep Lexus Porsche Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video porsche macan lexus lc 500 macan wrangler r8 Arts and Entertainment

Aston Martin DB5 re-creates life-size Corgi diecast toy car for 007 movie

To promote the upcoming James Bond film "No Time To Die," Aston Martin has turned a DB5 into a life-size toy car. In fact, the car itself is kind of a giant toy, one of the $3.6 million DB5 Goldfinger Continuation models that mimic the movie car with mock machine guns and rotating license plates. Now, it has a giant vintage Corgi Toys box to match. The original Corgi 007 Aston Martin DB5 toy debuted in October 1965, about a year after the "Goldfinger" movie showed Sean Connery behind the wheel of the gadget-infused spy-mobile. According to some estimates, the Corgi sold 4 million copies in four years, making it the best-selling toy car in history. Over the years, Corgi has retooled and re-released the model several times, selling over 20 million in total. The big box, unveiled at London's Battersea Power Station, re-creates Corgi's original release packaging complete with period artwork. In 1965, according to Aston Martin, the toy car sold for just 50 pence, the equivalent of just under $14 today when accounting for inflation. You can still get a new one for about $20, but first-release models can run up to $350 in good condition. The DB5 Goldfinger Continuation is one of just 25 cars built by Aston Martin's Heritage Division, the same outfit that brought you continuation models of the DB4 GT and DB4 Zagato. However, while those are faithful re-creations of the original cars, the DB5 Goldfinger is a little different. The cars are built as the original DB5s were, taking about 4,500 hours each and emerging from the same workshop in Newport Pagnell as the 1963 models did. In this case, the intriguing DB5 Goldfinger was developed in conjunction with Chris Corbould, the special-effects coordinator on the last 14 Bond movies and the individual responsible for modifying several of the picture cars. The cars have been outfitted with oil slicks, Browning machine guns that pop out from behind the lights, and a bulletproof shield that rises from the rear to protect the rear windscreen from villainous rounds. None of these things actually work — the oil is really water, the guns emit a bang-bang noise and flash some LEDs — but even so, the car is not street legal. It also comes with a rotating license plate holder and a roof panel shaped like Bond's ejector seat exit. There is, of course, no ejector seat.