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Editor’s Note: This video is a segment from the CNN Style show.
CNN
—
Marek Reichman has one of the coolest jobs in the automotive industry. Not only does he design cars for Aston Martin, but he’s also licensed to thrill. Thanks to the brand’s enduring relationship with James Bond, stretching back to “Goldfinger” in 1964, these days 007’s car of choice is often a Reichman design.
So far, 007 has been at the wheel of an Aston Martin in 12 of the 24 Bond movies. In 2015’s “Spectre,” the latest Bond picture, the spy drove an Aston Martin DB10 developed for the movie.
Reichman, Aston Martin’s Executive Vice President and Chief Creative Officer, feels the DB10 “epitomizes Bond.” He says his team spent a lot of time with the DB10, making sure that its first on-screen impression was clean, pure and simple, “because the car doesn’t have a lot of intakes and visible gadgets – it’s just the purity of line.”
“I would describe DB10 as a hunter,” Reichman told CNN Style show host Derek Blasberg. “It’s like a shark: beautiful to look at, but I wouldn’t want to go swimming with it.”
Beyond Bond
Cool cars have, of course, always been a big part of the super spy's image. Here's our pick of the best cars featured in the franchise.
Angelo Carconi/AP
Bentley Mark IV -- "From Russia With Love," 1963 —
Ian Fleming was a vintage Bentley owner and made it 007's car of choice in the original Bond books. His c.1936 beauty in From Russia With Love was equipped with a radio telephone.
Eon Productions
Aston Martin DB5 -- "Goldfinger," 1964 —
This Bond car was fitted with machine guns, an ejector seat and a host of other Q Branch gadgets. It made a triumphant return in Skyfall and sold for $4.6 million in 2010.
RM Auctions
Toyota 2000GT -- "You Only Live Twice," 1967 —
One of the coolest Bond cars ever, the rare Japanese exotic was specially modified to accommodate the lanky Sean Connery -- the roof was removed.
Rallyhaus
Aston Martin DBS -- "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," 1969 —
Of all Bond's Astons, this is our favorite -- simply stunning. George Lazenby drove it in his single, and vastly underrated, appearance as 007.
Bonhams
Ford Mustang Mach 1 -- "Diamonds Are Forever," 1971 —
The only American car in Bond's stable, it actually belongs to Bond girl Tiffany Case in Diamonds Are Forever.
RK Motors Charlotte
Lotus Esprit -- "The Spy Who Loved Me," 1977 —
With the amphibious Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond production designers created the only car to truly rival the DB5 for icon status. Elon Musk paid $860,000 for one of them in 2013.
Courtesy Eon Productions
Citroen 2CV -- "For Your Eyes Only," 1981 —
Not the sexiest car in Bond's stable by any means, the "tin snail" is also the slowest. However, it made for one of the more memorable chase scenes in the series.
Courtesy Autojumble
Lotus Esprit Turbo -- "For Your Eyes Only," 1981 —
Eschewing the Citroen, Bond breaks out another awesome Lotus on the ski slopes of Cortina. Unfortunately he finds a dead body inside.
Courtesy ESPN
Alfa Romeo GTV6 -- "Octopussy," 1983 —
The only Italian car on the list, Bond steals it from a woman in a phone booth for a high speed chase in Germany. A very affordable classic these days for anyone looking for a little 007 action.
Courtesy Cool Cars
Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante -- "The Living Daylights," 1987 —
Bond's return to Aston Martin in 1987 saw Timothy Dalton take the wheel of a gadget-laden V8 Volante. Another underrated favorite of ours.
Courtesy Eon Productions
BMW 750iL -- "Tomorrow Never Dies," 1997 —
Bond's brief flirtation with BMW began in the late 90's and didn't last terribly long. Pierce Brosnan uses a cell phone to drive the high-tech 750iL -- off a roof, alas.
Courtesy Motor Trend
BMW Z8 -- "The World Is Not Enough," 1999 —
Brosnan-as-Bond is forever linked to BMW, giving him a sort of yuppie-ish air. That and his Italian suits from Brioni.
Courtesy Kinja
Aston Martin Vanquish -- "Die Another Day," 2002 —
Die Another Day saw in the modern Aston Martin era, and the Vanquish did not disappoint, with bulletproof bodywork, heat-seeking missiles and more.
Courtesy Eon Productions
Land Rover Defender - "Skyfall," 2012 —
Driven by Miss Moneypenny, with Bond riding shotgun, so to speak, the Defender qualifies for the list thanks to its cult-like status. Too bad Land Rover is discontinuing it.
Courtesy Eon Productions
Aston Martin DB10 - "Spectre, 2015" —
The DB10 represents the future of Aston Martin's road cars, and we're only too glad to have 007 test it out for us. On screen, it more than holds its own against Bond's other rides. Well done, James.
Eon Productions
License to thrill: The coolest Bond cars of all time
A statement released by Aston Martin revealed that it is the first vehicle launched under the company’s “Second Century” plan, explaining, “the DB11 showcases a distinctive design language and pioneering aerodynamics, powered by a potent new 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12 engine designed in house.”
“Every part of DB11 is designed to create the world’s most alluring DB to date,” Reichman said. Since 2006, when he joined the luxury car marker, Reichman has also overseen the launches V12 Vantage S, Vanquish Volante, Rapide S and Vulcan.
Aston Martin DB11
Aston Martin
“An Aston Martin is iconic because it has proportion and beauty at its core,” he said.
“If I was to put a DB5 here in front of us or a DB11 and put a cover over them, you would see the proportion of those cars. You would see the elegance, the length of the hood versus the length of the cabin, the proportion of the side glass to the body side of the car, and you would read that proportion. It’s like looking at a piece of sculpture.”
A radical new road car
Aston Martin’s latest collaboration is with the Red Bull Formula One team. The two brands have joined forces to create a radical road car, codenamed AM-RB 001.
“My personal challenge has been expressing the AM-RB 001’s extraordinary performance and the unique way in which it delivers that performance… Its style reflects its revolutionary nature, while possessing the form and beauty that makes it unmistakably an Aston Martin.”
Aston Martin V12 Vantage S Roadster
Aston Martin
For Reichman, the future is full of new challenges.
With so many advances, including new methods of propulsion, lighter materials, and autonomous technology, he believes the world of car design is at a tipping point.
“You have a very strong brief, a clear direction, and you generate the language of what that direction is going to be. If that is an electric car, that has a very different visual language to a car that runs on petrol, and the design job is to immediately have the association – a visual communication of a story.”
