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Aston Martin V8 Vantage Series II spotted during 'Bond 25' filming

James Bond is known for piloting all sorts of cars from Aston Martin, Lotus, and even BMW. His most famous is obviously the silver DB5 from the Goldfinger, which had various cameo appearances in some of the newer Bond films featuring Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. But for the latest installment to the series, it appears movie producers are going a bit more nostalgic. Norwegian news outlet Dagbladet reportedly caught wind of the movie's filming and production along Norway's scenic Atlantic Coast, where a later Aston Martin V8 Vantage Series II was spotted during a car chase cut. Diehard Bond fans would point out that the V8 Vantage from the 1970s and 1980s was Bond's vehicle in the films featuring Timothy Dalton as Bond, most notably "The Living Daylights." As seen from the exclusive photos and footage from Dagbladet, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage was being driven with some Toyota Land Cruisers and Range Rover Sports in pursuit. The brown Aston in use even had the same license plate as the one driven by Dalton's Bond: B549 WUU. This strongly implies that the V8 Vantage will make an appearance, in addition to the rumor that Bond will get an all-electric version of the Rapide. The next Bond film is rumored to be very nostalgic, especially since it's the 25th film of the franchise. Not much is specifically known however, besides the fact that Daniel Craig will return as James Bond while Rami Malek will take the role as the film's leading villain and antagonist. Supporting roles will be played by Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, Ben Whishaw as Q, and Ralph Fiennes as M, as previously played in the last few movies. The latest film is directed by Cari Johi Fukunaga, who also directed HBO's "True Detective" and Netflix's hit series, "Maniac." Aston Martin also chimed in with its own nostalgic tribute to its role with James Bond with the launch of an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera that pays tribute to the franchise's sixth film ever, On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Aston Martin's front-engined sports cars getting big upgrades for 2023

On an investor call in March 2021 to go over financial results for the year 2020, Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers told listeners that the automaker's range of front-engined cars were going under various knives to get a "full refresh." At last, thanks to voluminous commentary provided at the launch of Aston Martin's AMR22 Formula 1 car, we have some idea of what Moers' meant. When Autocar spoke to carmaker CEO Lawrence Stroll, he told the outlet the DB11, DBS, and Vantage were going to be like "all-new cars" after receiving upgraded powertrains, suspensions, and infotainment systems. It sounds like there could be design tweaks in store as well, the honcho claiming, "There's no similarity at all to the current cars" save for "some carry-over" in the rear quarters. Autocar believes the AMG-sourced M177 twin-turbo 4.0-liter V8 in the DB11 and Vantage will get more power, both of those coupes furnished with 503 horses from that mill at the moment. Meanwhile, the AMG GT 63 S four-door coupe is getting 630 horses from the same engine, more than the 600 hp Aston Martin elicits from its in-house, 5.2-liter V12. It will be interesting to see if the V12 is pushed further in order to retain the same daylight between it and the V8. Alongside this, Stoll told Bloomberg the next 18 to 24 months will bring us electrified versions of the entire model portfolio. The DBX will likely come first, in the next 18 months, with performance that will match or exceed the recently launched DBX707. The hybridized "front-engine program" will follow on its quad pipes. The interiors will take a luxurious step up thanks to the arrival of touchscreens. Before the English firm's tie-up with AMG, it used Volvo-sourced infotainment screens, a necessary cost-saving measure but one that wasn't up to the standards of the brand. Moving to the Mercedes-based system improved the perception, but Aston Martin had to agree to using three-year-old Mercedes technology, another move that didn't fit the standards of the brand. As Stroll asked rhetorically yet rightly, "How can you have an Aston Martin that sells for GBP150,000 with three-year-old technology?" To be clear, we're still taking about underlying Mercedes tech, but the up-to-date stuff that, furthermore, will issue directives with "a proper English accent." The results of the upgrade program are anticipated to reach dealer in 2023, perhaps as 2024 models.

Rare 1958 Aston to be auctioned in Tennessee

Decaying Aston Martins are showing up on the auction block all over the world. The final, original DBS recently went up for bid in the UK, and to go up for sale on the other side of the Atlantic, a 1958 DB Mark III was recently found wasting away in a Tennessee garage. "I didn't know much about it, except it was old and worth some money," said owner Tammy Maxwell to Clarksville Now. Her husband bought the Aston in Hawaii in 1975 and carried the car along with him until the family settled in Tennessee. He originally intended to restore it but an illness got in the way. Now, the vintage coupe is crossing the auction block in Cumberland Furnace, TN, on April 11 through Auction World Gallery. This example is in very rough shape, though. The paint and trim are gone from the entire front end, and the interior is a rat's nest of parts. There's no mention of whether the powertrain is intact, although a crankshaft is visible sitting in the boot and possibly a carb on the passenger seat. It's going to be a big project to get this Mark III back on the road. According to Aston Martin, the company built just 552 examples of the DB Mark III, and 462 of them were the coupe body style shown here that featured a hatchback. Power came from a 2.9-liter inline-six routed through a four-speed manual gearbox. The car also grabbed a unique footnote in pop culture history as James Bond's car in the book Goldfinger, rather than the DB5 in the film version.