For your eyes only
6-minute read • 1,100 words
Originally published in the November 2015 issue of Northside Magazine.
I am in an Aston Martin DB9 GT at top speed, burning rubber, pedal to the metal. Beneath my three-piece suit, my heart is pounding. An evil henchman sits beside me, gun trained at my temple. In hot pursuit, a fleet of hired goons, tyres screeching as they race to close me down. I glance at the hidden button that triggers the rear machine guns; one touch would blow the enemy to dust. I hover my finger over it, waiting for the right moment, hovering, hovering…
Alright, alright. No I don’t. No I’m not.
I am in an Aston Martin DB9 GT; that much is true. But not in a heart-stopping, nerve-shredding, high-speed chase. Actually, I am somewhere off the A6110 just outside Leeds – and I am stuck behind a tractor.
I am wearing my best three-piece suit, yes – but it’s high street, not Savile Row. The evil henchman at my side is in fact a very nice man from Aston Martin called Richard. (And he’s unarmed. Well, as far as I know.) And the cars behind me are not driven by hired goons; more likely they’re retirees on their way back home from Lidl.
I am here, behind the wheel of this great machine, as part of an event celebrating the latest James Bond film, SPECTRE. But as you’ve probably gathered, I’m making the most of the opportunity by indulging in a little wish-fulfilment.
As a kid, 007 was my hero. While peers chased footballs round a field and idolised Ronaldo (the one with the teeth, not the one with the abs), I was dreaming of being Bond. Sean Connery’s effortless sophistication, Timothy Dalton’s anguish and grit, Roger Moore’s eyebrow acrobatics – I loved ‘em all. I think my favourite ever Christmas present was the waistcoat and bow tie set which became my unofficial spy uniform. All of which explains why now, sat in the driver’s seat of an Aston Martin – AN ASTON MARTIN! JAMES BOND’S CAR! – I am having a bit of a moment.
Later this evening, at Aston Martin Leeds, is the main event. The car dealership is filled with Aston Martins identical to those seen in Bond films through the years. Oh! There’s a DBS like Bond’s wedding car in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service! Ah! That’s a V12 Vanquish, like the ‘invisible’ car from Die Another Day! Nfgh! That’s a silver DB5, the Goldfinger car!
Over here, the pièce de résistance: an Aston Martin DB10. In celebration of the manufacturer’s long association with the Bond franchise, this new model was created especially for SPECTRE; only ten will ever be made, eight of these used as stunt cars in the movie itself. And unlike the other replica vehicles on display tonight, this one is the real deal – one of those eight seen onscreen.
After attendees have mingled and been suitably refreshed (yes, the bar is serving vodka martinis; yes, I do partake; I must report they are stirred, not shaken), the evening’s guest speaker takes to the stage: rally champion and stunt driver Mark Higgins.
Mark is arguably more Bond than Daniel Craig. That car chase through Rome in SPECTRE? That’s Mark with his foot to the floor, not Daniel. Any driver’s dream job – but, says Mark, not without its challenges.
“We spent one month in Rome, the whole of March, shooting a sequence that ended up making about two minutes of screen time in the final film,” Mark says, “And there are 350 film crew, 16 security people, 150 extras on location – about 1,000 people there in total, all for this two-car chase. So the pressure to get it right is pretty immense.”
A professional driver from the age of 17, Isle of Man native Mark has won the British Rally Championship three times. His appearances on camera are another arrow in his quiver; his stunt CV includes work on Top Gear with Ben Collins, aka The Stig. He began his association with Bond on the second Daniel Craig film, Quantum of Solace, and together with his team won an award for stunt work on its follow-up, Skyfall. But as well as being Bond, Mark’s work on the films throws up some other surreal moments as well…
“I spent most of Skyfall dressed up as the actress who plays Moneypenny, Naomie Harris – hair, make-up, everything,” Mark laughs. “Once she came in to the dressing room as I was being put into costume – that was a weird day!”
Whatever the outfit – dinner jacket or drag – it’s fair to say Mark’s position as 007 stunt driver is safe. Cut back to me in the Aston Martin DB9 GT, tootling along behind the tractor.
Despite my love of Bond, I do not share my fictional idol’s skill with or knowledge of cars. For the petrolheads, here are the vital statistics about the one I’m currently driving. 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine. Touchtronic II six-speed transmission with electronic shift-by-wire control system. Zero to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds.
No? Me neither. All I know is it goes fast, and looks gorgeous while it’s doing it.
This particular model of Aston Martin is the latest version of the DB9 – the one before the SPECTRE car – and will set you back some £140,000. But that weighty price tag gets you a vehicle truly worthy of a secret agent. Little wonder that Bond has such a strong and lengthy connection with Aston Martin: both are quintessentially British and the very definition of style.
The DB9 GT even has a gadget or two. Before we set off, Richard, the nice man from Aston Martin who is contractually obligated to ride along with me to make sure I don’t die (or worse, put a dent in the Aston), shows me the controls. He touches a button – and on either side of the dashboard, up pop two Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers. Not quite hidden machine guns, but still pretty cool.
Later, as we pull onto the motorway to head back to the garage, Richard presses another button that switches the DB9 into ‘Sport’ mode.The exhaust lets out a leonine roar and our heads hit the seats as the car thrusts forward, all speed and fury. And though I know I have to hand the keys back soon and that my nostalgic trip is almost over, in that moment I am Bond again. I look in the rear view mirror at the hired goons giving chase. My finger pauses over the trigger, hovering, hovering…
