There’s a somewhat meta moment in “Goldfinger” — still regarded as one of the best Bond movies ever — where Sean Connery’s Bond meets with Desmond Llewelyn’s Q and asks “Where’s my Bentley?” to which Q replies, “It’s had its day, I’m afraid.” That was quite literally true in terms of Bentley being Bond’s car of choice, as Q would swiftly introduce a new vehicle: the 1963 Aston Martin DB5, complete with a range of “modifications.” These included bullet-proof windows, revolving number plates, a GPS tracking system, and of course the ejector seat. Add to that an array of “defense mechanisms,” from machine guns to smoke screens, and the DB5 of “Goldfinger” was unlike anything Aston Martin had ever manufactured.
Which might be why the company was hesitant at first. In Matthew Field and Ajay Chowdhury’s 2015 book, “Some Kind of Hero: The Remarkable Story of the James Bond Films,” the authors note how screenwriter Richard Maibaum originally planned for Bond to drive a Bentley in the film. But, as Production Designer Ken Adam recalled, there was some debate about whether that was the right choice:
“There were E-Type Jaguars, Aston Martins, Italian Ferraris, and Alfa Romeos. We decided the Aston Martin [DB5], which was by far the most expensive British sports car, would be the right prop for Bond.”
Unfortunately, Aston Martin wasn’t all that thrilled when producer Harry Saltzman first contacted them, reportedly showing “no interest” in loaning their cars to the production. As General Manager Steve Heggie is quoted as saying, “We had many such requests in those days from film producers and in general it cost Aston Martin more than it was worth.” It was only due to the persistence of Saltzman that the company ultimately acquiesced and provided the “Goldfinger” crew with two DB5s.
Source From: www.slashfilm.com
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