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Aston Martin DB5 'No Time to Die' Edition takes 007 to the tikes

Last August, The Little Car Company introduced the Aston Martin DB5 Junior. It was a two-thirds-scale replica of the life-sized item, with an electric powertrain in place of the inline-six, made for kids whose leases were up on their Little Tikes Cars and wanted to get into something more mature. A year later, with the new James Bond film No Time to Die finally reaching theaters at the end of this month, The Little Car Company (TLC) has rolled out a DB5 Junior No Time to Die Edition in its sales garage. Working with Aston Martin, Eon Productions, and Bond film special effects supervisor Chris Corbould, the newest little Aston gets more power and a host of gadgets. The original DB5 Junior contained a 1.8-kWh battery pack powering a 6.7-horsepower motor, and could be driven in Novice or Expert modes. The Bond-themed version has been uprated to a 7.2-kWh pack turning a 21.5-hp motor, and can be piloted in Novice, Expert, Competition and Escape modes. It's the most powerful vehicle the company currently offers, and can go up to 80 miles on a charge. Fidelity to the original includes Silver Birch paint and Smiths instruments, although a couple of gauges have been swapped out to serve an EV powertrain instead of internal combustion. The Bilstein dampers and Brembo brakes with brake regeneration are subtle improvements. And true, Daniel Craig's Bond doesn't drive the droptop DB5, but TLC made a Q Branch executive decision so that parents could fit in the car beside their kids.   Gadgets are controlled by a hidden switch panel in the passenger's door, because agents-in-training should focus on driving. They goodies menu lists a digital license plate, fake Gatling guns behind the headlights, a real smokescreen generator emitted through exhaust tips, and a skid mode. Owners of the last year's DB5 Junior will get first right of refusal to purchase the No Time to Die Edition. Unlike the original, which TLC made 1,059 examples of, the DB5 Junior No Time to Die Edition will be limited to 125 units. The new version doubles the price of the original, costing GBP90,000 ($122,616 U.S.) plus tax to become a miniature agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service.  Related Video:

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Aston Martin speeds ahead with October IPO worth perhaps $6.7 billion

LONDON — Luxury British carmaker Aston Martin is seeking a valuation of up to 5.07 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) from its stock market flotation and has taken steps to prepare for any eventuality over Brexit, it said on Thursday. The company, famed for making the sports car driven by fictional secret agent James Bond, said last month it was pursuing an initial public offering (IPO), the first British carmaker to do so for decades. The automaker will publish a prospectus later on Thursday and hopes to announce its final pricing on or around Oct. 3. It expects its shares to be admitted to the London Stock Exchange on or around Oct. 8. Carmakers have warned about the impact of any customs checks introduced as a result of a no deal or hard Brexit which could slow down production and add costs when Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019. The boss of Aston, which builds all its cars in Britain, said the company had boosted its stock of engines and components in case free and unfettered trade with the European Union ends in a few months' time. "We're up to five days of engine stock for example and we've got a very large warehouse in Wellesbourne (in central England) where we have at least five days of car stock," Chief Executive Andy Palmer told Reuters, an increase from the previous three days' worth of components held by the firm. "If there are tariffs ... for every car we lose because of a 10 percent tariff into Europe, we presumably pick up from Ferrari and Lamborghini in the other direction because obviously their cars become more expensive in the UK," he said. London and Brussels hope to conclude a Brexit agreement by the end of the year, but fellow carmakers such as BMW and Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) are worried that failure to agree could lead to snarl-ups at motorways and ports, disrupting production. JLR boss Ralf Speth warned last week that the wrong Brexit deal could cost tens of thousands of car jobs and risk production at the firm, Britain's biggest carmaker. Aston, which has set a price range of 17.50 pounds to 22.50 pounds per share for the 25 percent of stock it is floating, is targeting a market capitalization of between 4.02 and 5.07 billion pounds. The carmaker, which has long said it could pursue a listing, has undergone a turnaround plan since Palmer took over in 2014 as it boosts its volumes and expands into new segments with a new factory due to open in 2019.