No TLC for Aston Martin

When the credits run on the forthcoming James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, there'll be a disclaimer that no animals were hurt during production.

You won't see this, having left by that point for the carpark, but it's always there.

As you climb into what is almost certainly a far humbler form of transport than those you've just seen on the screen, you might wonder at the lack of a Royal Society for Protection of Cruelty to Automobiles.

As can be seen from these exclusive images of the sequel to Casino Royale — the flick that rebooted and imbued the flaccid Bond franchise with balls — Automobile Rights protestors would be outraged.

Evidently not content with establishing a Guiness Book record for achieving seven barrel roles in Casino Royale, seven of the sumptuous DBSs were variously brutalised for the chase sequence near curtain up on Quantum.

This is set an hour after the closing shot of Casino in which Daniel Craig's Bond stands — silenced Heckler & Koch smoking in his hand — over the writhing form of Mr White, who he has kneecapped by way of introducing himself as “Bond, James Bond”.

Stunt coordinator Gary Powell, the third generation of the legendary English clan who have taken the falls and rolled with the punches on every Bond flick since Dr No, has said he set out to top his Casino rollout.

“We have stiffened the suspension and pushed the wheels out at an angle and used special tyres for each surface. We take all the traction control off the cars so when we want to do a big wheeslpin, the car will allow you to do it.

“That way the stuntman controls the car rather than the car controlling the stuntmen. We have put in a hydraulic handbrake in the Aston Martins so the stuntman can skid the car round corners. It's fitted between the driver and the door so that it's easy to reach for without looking down.”

Someone must have done so at some point, though, one Aston plunging contrary to direction into northern Italy's usually placcid and postcard perfect Lake Garda. In addition to the scripted carnage visited upon a clutch of Alfa Romeo 159s, another had an “accidental” accident.

While Quantum of Solace's director is Marc Forster, it was Dan Bradley who spent two months with the second unit shooting the sequence near Garda — a favourite setting for European car makers with products to launch.

“I love the bit where Bond loses the driver's door of the Aston Martin,” says Bradley, seemingly oblivious to the wails of auto eroticists.

“Now it's like, every car that comes past him, every shot that is fired at him, the potential for Bond's (survival) withers. I love what it gives us in terms of storytelling and the threat to Bond.”

With Bondophiles buzzing that the new film will see a return of the gadgetry that was notable by its absence in Casino, this is one refreshingly unsophisticated touch. Whereas Sean Connery's original 1964 Aston Martin DB5 was stuffed with then hi-tech optional extras including retractable machine guns, Craig fires his H&K at the pursuing Alfas through the gaping doorframe.

If somehow we've forgotten that Bond is fiction, albeit boy's own stuff of the highest order, the last sentence is a salient reminder. Alfas harrying an Aston?

While the Fiat group have not revealed what involvement in the franchise currently dominated by Ford and its subsidiary Premier Auto Group cost, the mere association as the villains ride of choice can hardly hurt flagging sales of the 159.

Those in question are the 159Ti 3.2 JTS V6 Q4, the topline edition of the sedan which sells locally from $76,990, a snip compared to the $466,600 pricetag on the DBS. Actually, we'd recommend the visually almost identical 2.2 JTS from $54,990.

And if you're looking for a still more affordable bit of Bondage, Ford's micro Ka is to make a cameo appearance, just as the current Mondeo was first seen by the world in Casino Royale.

Of course, soon after being seen in this placed product, the then-new Bond actor acquires an example of the iconic DB5 in a card game, a symbol of Craig taking the 007 mantle.

This and the bravado opening of Quantum remind us that for all the girls, guns and gratuitous quips, the car remains a central motif of this longest running movie franchise.

Quantum of Solace is released in November. The new trailer can be seen at www.007.com/