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Daniel Craig's personal James Bond Aston Martin is for sale

LOS ANGELES — James Bond is parting with his personal Aston Martin. Actor Daniel Craig, who has played the British spy known as 007 in four films, is auctioning for charity the limited-edition vehicle made for him by Aston Martin four years ago, Christie's auction house said on Thursday. Aston Martin cars have appeared in Bond films over nearly 50 years, beginning with 1964's "Goldfinger" in which Sean Connery drove a silver Aston Martin DB5. The brand has appeared in all four Bond films starring Craig. Craig's personal car is a 2014 Vanquish that Aston Martin produced just 100 examples of to celebrate its 100th anniversary. Craig's vehicle is, naturally, number 007. "It was an homage, really, to his career," Becky MacGuire, director of Christie's' The Exceptional Sale, said in an interview. "What he's brought to the Bond character has been so appreciated by the company and, of course, zillions of fans." The vehicle has a midnight blue exterior and dark blue luxury leather interior chosen because of Craig's preference for denim and dark colors, Christie's said. Proceeds from the sale will benefit New York-based charity The Opportunity Network, which helps students from disadvantaged communities achieve their college and career goals. Craig and his wife, actress Rachel Weisz, both sit on the organization's board of directors. The car's value is estimated at $400,000 to $600,000. It will be displayed at Christie's showroom in Los Angeles from Feb. 27 to March 3 before moving to New York, where it will be auctioned on April 20 as part of Christie's annual decorative arts masterpiece sale called The Exceptional Sale. Last year, Craig said he will reprise the role of James Bond one last time. The film is expected to be released in U.S. cinemas on Nov. 8, 2019.Reporting by Nichola Groom Related Video:

Aston Martin tests new Lagonda super-sedan in Oman

Aston Martin has been on a long road towards reviving the Lagonda name. The last Lagonda – that famously wedgy sedan – ended production in 1990. The name came back on a crossover concept in 2009, but for better or worse, never reached production. Then about a month ago, Aston teased a new super sedan to revive the marque, and shipped it off to Oman for hot weather testing under the baking Arabian sun. And now it's released a full batch of photos giving us our best look at the exclusive new four-door yet. This first verification prototype is taking part in a four-week testing cycle in the Sultanate, running some 500 miles per day with the aim of logging 14,000 test miles in temperatures as high as 120 degree Fahrenheit. The British automaker (known in full as Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd.) purposely chose a black paintjob to further punish its prototype, including an hours-long heat soak test that will bring the surface temperature of the cabin trim up to around 175 degrees. Aston isn't telling us much about the sedan itself, but we figure it's more likely to be powered by the company's ubiquitous 6.0-liter V12 engine and based on the aging VH architecture, though for all we know at this point, it could packing the upcoming AMG-sourced turbo eight and new platform. What we can see is that the styling is a radical departure from the design language to which Aston adhered rather rigidly over the past couple of decades, potentially previewing a new styling direction for the British marque. Unfortunately you shouldn't expect to see one in your neighborhood, because production will be strictly limited and exclusive to the Middle East.

Force India: 'Door still open' for Aston Martin partnership

Force India says a partnership that would bring Aston Martin back to Formula 1 remains a possibility for the future, despite talks last year failing to produce a deal. The Silverstone-based outfit had hoped to tie up a partnership with the British sportscar manufacturer for 2016, but in the end the discussions fell through. However, while the matter is off the table for this year, Force India's COO Otmar Szafnauer says his outfit is still hoping that it can resurrect the idea and bring Aston Martin on board for 2017. "I don't think the answer is no," Szafnauer told Motorsport.com. "It was just for 2016 we won't be collaborating. But we will have further discussions later on with Aston to see if there is a possibility for future years." Rules key Szafnauer said that the talks with Aston Martin had been "serious", but thinks that key to completing an agreement will be in F1 delivering a platform of rules that entices the manufacturer in. "For 2017 there is still a possibility and the door is still open," he said. "We will reconvene again and see if there is any possibility for the future. "There were just some decision-making points that were unknown at that time. And they just needed more time to see what the sport was doing about the engine and some other things. "They need to have some of those answers before they can make that decision of entering Formula 1 or not. And only time would give them those answers." When asked if finalized 2017 regulations would be a help, he said: "Well, that's one of the things. "So when those 2017 regulations are sorted out, everybody knows and then people can make decisions like: 'Do I like them or not?' "But if you're trying to guess what those are, than people say: 'Oh, let me wait and see.' That is exactly one of the reasons. To understand what the regulations are going to be in 2017." Related Video: This article by Jonathan Noble originally appeared on Motorsport.com, the world's leader in auto racing news, photos and video.