At the start of the 1987 James Bond film 'The Living Daylights', we see our hero, played for the first time by Timothy Dalton, driving 'B549 WUU' a V8 Volante with Cumberland Grey coachwork and upholstered in black leather. This car was in fact the personal transport of Victor Gauntlett, the Chairman of AML. (astonmartins.com)
There was quite a long waiting list for AM V8s, and they ended up having to buy a handful of used cars to repurpose for the movie. Also, as you might have spotted in the film, Bond's car begins as a drop-top Volante and morphs into a tin-top Vantage - the explanation that we're given is that Q 'winterised' it.
But anyway, the key function of any 007 car is to bristle with gadgets. So what did this Aston have? Well, the most obvious additions are the outriggers - extendable skis to stabilise it on snow - and the afterburner for short bursts of bonkers acceleration. There were also missiles behind the spotlamps, lasers in the wheel centres, retractable tyre spikes for traction, a heads-up display for the missile system, a military radio scanner disguised as a Philips cassette player and - naturally - a self-destruct button. (sucksqueezebangblow.co)
(Photos from astonmartins.com, sucksqueezebangblow.co & imcdb.org)
