Did the delay of the release of the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die (triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic), present Aston Martin with an unexpected opportunity to produce a pair of special editions to make the most of the upcoming movie’s razzmatazz? We’ll never know…

No Time To Die, which is widely believed to mark Daniel Craig’s final outingas the world’s most famous fictional spy, will finally be released worldwide in November 2020 and the film will feature a quartet of Aston Martins: the iconic DB5, the classic Aston Martin V8, theDBS Superleggera and mid-engined Valhalla hypercar.

The DBS Superleggera's execution is the more conventional of the 007 Editions, but its Ceramic Grey finish is very striking.

Aston Martin, which recently commenced production of the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation model, has aligned its marketing activities closely with instalments of the James Bond franchise since Pierce Brosnanportrayed the titular character for a final time in Die Another Day in 2002. In fact, the Gaydon-based firm calls its bespoke division: Q by Aston Martin (with reference to the iconic Quartermaster character immortalised by the late DesmondLlewelyn – more recently portrayed by Ben Whishaw); not only has the division created these DBS Superleggera and Vantage 007 Editions, it exists so that Aston Martin buyers can individualise their cars to heart's content via the commission service.

Let’s start with the rarer model of the two. Production of the DBS Superleggera 007 Edition will belimited to just 25 units and the model features the same specification as the example featured in the upcoming film.

The DBS Superleggera features tasteful red contrast stitching and subtle 007 badgin in its cabin.

Decked out in a bespoke Ceramic Grey exterior finish and shod with gloss-black and diamond-turned Y-spoke 21-inch wheels, the DBS Superleggera 007 Edition features a black-tinted carbon-fibre roof, mirror caps, splitter, diffuser and rear spoiler blade. This special edition further features a 007 fender badge finished in chrome with a black enamel infill and stainless-steel silver 007 foil applied to the aforementioned “Aeroblade”.

Meanwhile, the DBS Superleggera’s black-leather-trimmed cockpit features flashes of red detailing in the form of contrast stitching. Subtle 007 branding is applied on the door cards, armrest buckle badge and on the rear sub-woofer cover. Finally, a sill-plaque denotes that the car is one of a production run of 25 units.

Read our review of the 534 kW/900 Nm 5.2-litre twin-turbocharged V12-engined DBS Superleggera

Sean Connery's Bond was a stickler for Aston Martins, but the brand disappeared from the 007 movies in the Roger Moore era.

The other 007 Edition model is a Vantage inspired by the Aston Martin V8 that made its 007 debut inThe Living Daylights(1987) and also features inNo Time to Die (in the latter movie, James Bond uncovers the car from his personal lock-up in London). The car’s production run will be limited to 100 units globally.

Although Aston Martin is synonymous with the James Bond franchise today, The Living Daylightsmarked the first time that 007 had been behind the ‘wheel of one of the marque’s sportscars since the late Sixties. A host of other brands (most notably Lotus) featured in the Roger Moore-era 007 films of the ‘70s to mid-‘80s.

The Living Daylights featured an Aston Martin V8 in "winterised" spec, hence the skis and ski rack of the Vantage 007 Edition.

The Vantage 007 Edition features a bespoke mesh grille (with chrome surround) as an homage to the classic V8, plus side-strake Vantage badges and a yellow-accented diffuser inspired by the stripes on the film car’s rockets. The skis and ski rack – which reference the “winterised” V8 in the film – are optional.

The special edition is finished in Cumberland Grey, while its cabin is trimmed in obsidian black leather with dark chrome accents. The seats feature heritage fluting reminiscent of that seen in the V8, along with carbon fibre seatbacks and, in a particularly detailed nod to the 1987 film, the outline of cello “f holes” inspired by the snow chase scene featuring Bond (Timothy Dalton) and Kara Milovy (Maryam D’Abo).

The Vantage 007 Edition's seats feature gorgeous heritage fluting, which looks period-correct for the heyday of the classic V8 model.

Meanwhile, 007 branding features on the centre console of cars equipped with a manual gearbox and the sun visors are embroidered with a radio station frequency – 96.60 FM – which was the Russian police frequency that Bond used to aid his escape inThe Living Daylights. On automatic derivatives, crosshairs are etched onto the car’s paddle shifters to reference the missile guidance system seen in the film…

So far, the Vantage 007 Edition's cabindetailingis, um, quaint, but thefollowing adornment might be a bit much for some…Buyers can also splurge on a laser-etched gadget plaque that references the various weapons and devices (including a rocket motor, missiles, lasers, a targeting display and ski outriggers) as seen on the original film car. Hmm.

The 007 Editions are officially on sale now, with the first deliveries scheduled for the 1st quarter of 2021. If you'd like to secure 1of the 125units, keep calmand callQ.

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