1 - Rutland Pride JAN 162.qxp_Layout 2 30/11/2015 13:30 Page 159
>> The Bond Edition commands a premium of around £30,000 over the standard DB9, so what extra appeal does the run-out model have over conventional models? Ejector seats, perhaps? Missile launchers or machine guns? Adaptive camouflage like Bond’s Vanquish in Die Another Day, or the ability to travel through the water like his Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me?
Unfortunately not. In fact, a more powerful state of engine tuning aside, the car’s additional features are limited to a special edition Omega Seamaster wristwatch and a Globe-Trotter 21” suitcase. Hardly worthy of Q-Branch. The DB9’s infotainment system features a model-specific Bond Iconic: Sean Connery helped to give the DB5 its status in popular culture with its debut in Goldfinger.
IT MAY BE A BEAUTIFUL CAR, BUT THERE’S VERY LITTLE TO SEPARATE THE DB9 ‘BOND EDITION’ FROM THE STANDARD CAR... Edition start-up screen, and there are numbered sill plates when you open the doors, but apart from that, it’s all pretty standard issue.
The car’s default colour is Spectre Silver, and there’s discreet Bond Edition badging, but there’s very little to separate this version from the standard car.
A VULCANIC PERFORMANCE Is the DB9 a little too tame for you?
If so, Aston Martin’s other new release in 2015 was the Vulcan. Named after the Cold War bomber, it’s a track car powered by a 7.0 V12 engine generating 800bhp. Availability may be an issue, with just over 24 units being produced, and the cost of the car - £1,800,000 - may prove prohibitive given that it isn’t even road legal and can only be used on a track!
The standard DB9 is, of course, a beautiful motor car. A facelift in 2013 modernised the centre console and updated the sat-nav to a more modern system. It added adaptive dampers and a modern sophisticated shiftby-wire automatic gearbox, but there’s no
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