This is the first spy video of the upcoming 2008 Aston Martin DBRS9, a street version of the Aston Martin DBS which will make its debut in Casino Royale, the next James Bond film due out later this year. Compared to the 450-horsepower DB9, the DBRS9 will sit lower, have more aggressive bodywork and an additional 50-80 horsepower. It will be built in limited numbers and go on sale late in 2007.

Replacing the now discontinued Vanquish as the flagship of Aston's lineup, the DBRS9 is built on the same aluminum "VH" chassis as the DB9. Upgrades include a 1.5-inch-wider rear track, ceramic brake rotors and reshaped bodywork front and rear. To keep it light the DBRS9 will not only pare some of the DB9's luxury features, it will also use carbon fiber for the hood, trunk lid and front-quarter panels. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard, although a paddle-shifted automatic will be offered as an option.

The lineage of the DBRS9 is a little complicated given that Aston Martin already builds a DBRS9. The existing DBRS9 is a factory-built racecar designed for club competition and is itself based on the DBR9 racecar which competes in the GT1 world sports car racing series. The DBS built for Casino Royale is loosely based on the DBRS9 racecar.

Look for the debut of the DBRS9 at the Detroit auto show in January.

What happened when Aston Martin lent its brand new DBS to the world’s best known secret agent


The choice of star car for Casino Royale was made in late 2005 when Aston boss Dr Ulrich Bez invited Bond producer Barbara Broccoli up to Gaydon to look at a new DB9-based model under development in the design studio. Broccoli loved the car and immediately cast it as the perfect transport for Daniel Craig’s leaner, meaner, slightly blonder Bond.

This left Aston with a small problem. The new car, to be called DBS, wasn’t due to be launched until 2007 and at that point it was just a styling buck still being finessed by design director Marek Reichman. No actual DBSs existed and it wasn’t going to be much of a starring role if all Bond did was lean casually on a clay model.

With principle photography due to start in January 2006, Aston’s prototype workshop pulled out all the extruded aluminium stops to hand-build two identical DBS ‘hero’ cars that could be used for close-up shots and gentle driving. Externally these cars looked near-as-dammit like the proposed production DBS. Inside, the Aston design team were given a little more licence, installing a crash helmet cubby, gun holder, and other cheeky features unlikely to be seen on customers’ cars unless they ask really nicely. The build team worked flat out and the cars were delivered to the Bond crew as promised in April 2006.

But Aston’s commitments didn’t end there. In the script, 007 discovers his love interest Vesper Lynd has been kidnapped and hammers his Aston along the twisting roads of Montenegro in hot pursuit. Director Martin Campbell wanted the audience to think they were about to see a lengthy car chase and then surprise them when instead Bond encounters Lynd lying on the road ahead, swerves to avoid her and flips his car into a spectacular barrel-roll. Ripping stuff on screen, but a headache for the Gaydon workshop, which had to fulfil the film makers’ request for three cosmetically accurate DBS stunt cars.

Fortunately Aston had a trio of redundant DB9 development hacks and drafted them into the prototype shop to be turned into DBS replicas. From the outside these sacrificial lambs looked identical to the fully formed ‘hero’ cars already working their stuff for the cameras. Inside, they were rather less polished, with tatty, rough-grained dashboards and stout roll-cages betraying their origins as pre-production workhorses. The tired matt-black vents and buttons on the top half of the dash were pretty far from the chrome-splashed versions in the show cars but, to avoid any risk of knackering continuity, the team came up with a cunning fix involving careful application of kitchen tin-foil.

Once again Aston met its deadline, delivering the three action cars to the Bond vehicle team along with the original DB9 manual gearbox prototype, looking scruffy and care-worn in its flaking white paintjob, so that the stunt drivers had a fourth car in which to practise.

Final planning for the stunt took place at Dunsfold Aerodrome near Guildford, familiar to TV viewers as home to the Top Gear test track, where the Casino Royale second unit was busy filming an explosive night-time sequence with kerosene tankers and an old 747. In the final movie you’d never guess that the fiery chase around Miami International Airport was actually shot in rural Surrey, especially once a twinkling Floridian city- scape had been digitally added to the background during post-production.

On another part of the airfield the stunt team set up the eight-inch ramp they calculated would be enough to flip the DBS and brought in two battered E34 BMW 5-series, chosen because they broadly replicated the size and weight of the Aston, for a couple of rehearsal rolls. Stunt co-ordinator Gary Powell had found a couple of dramatic rallycross crashes on the internet and was aiming for a similar multi-roll spectacular with the Aston. Sure enough, when they hit the ramp at 65mph, the Bee-Ems barrelled three or four times, in exactly the way Powell was looking for.

Satisfied that the stunt would work, the Bond crew moved to the hill circuit at Millbrook proving ground in Bedfordshire, doubling for the country roads of Montenegro, and carried out some final trials with their DB9 practice car. Unfortunately, the Aston proved a lot more stable than those crusty 5-series and, with only limited chances to get this right, the ramp was raised to 18 inches to make sure the Bond car turned turtle.

As it turned out, this still wasn’t enough. When stunt driver Adam Kirley charged the first DBS into the ramp at 70mph it simply took off, levelled out and landed on all four wheels, clouting the dummy that stood in for the prone Vesper Lynd before mangling its front suspension as it slithered unimpressively across the damp grass. The Aston’s stiffer chassis and lower centre of gravity meant it wasn’t inclined to go belly-up like those BMWs at Dunsfold.

Fortunately, the Bond team had a back-up plan involving another DBS fitted with a gas cannon that used pressurised nitrogen to punch a metal ram out of the bottom of the car and flip it onto its roof. It was up to Adam Kirley to hit the trigger at precisely the right moment, otherwise he’d risk being punted painfully into the trees by the side of the road.

With everything in place and the cameras running, Kirley gunned the Aston up to 75mph, came charging onto the wet tarmac of the beautifully lit filming area, swerved slightly to the left and fired the ram bang on cue. The result was even more spectacular than the stunt team had imagined. Once the Aston hit the grass, it dug in and just kept rolling, pieces of bodywork and a wheel flying off until it came to rest, right side up, lights still twinkling into the Millbrook undergrowth.

Kirley later described being in the car as ‘a fairly violent sort of ride’ but incredibly he stepped from the mashed Aston unhurt. He didn’t know at the time that he’d just established a new Guinness World Record for most cannon rolls in a car, achieving an astonishing seven complete turns and stealing the record from Top Gear, who had previously set the benchmark using a rather less glamorous Sierra estate.

If the ramp had been used it would have been hidden under a pile of peat to make it look like the car had flipped off the grass verge. Since they’d successfully deployed the cannon instead, a new bridging shot was required to establish the start of the roll and two weeks later the team returned to Millbrook with the third DBS action car, packed on one side with counterweights.

When Adam Kirley swerved around a flinching Vesper Lynd – actually stunt performer Nikki Berwick doubling for actress Eva Green – these weights were enough to pitch it onto its roof to make the first shot of the crash sequence that you see in the movie. With this extra roll in the bag, that was it. Three real Aston Martins successfully and spectacularly trashed.

When filming wrapped, the wrecked DBS replicas were returned to Gaydon where, in line with standard practice for development cars, they were due to be crushed, allowing the company to reclaim the VAT on their value and avoiding the risk of rogue prototype parts getting into the public domain. But from the mangled beauty you see here, you’ll notice the cannon-roll car has so far escaped the breakers’ yard. After its moment of record-breaking movie stardom, the chaps at Aston admit they’ve become quite attached to it.

Fortunately Aston had a trio of redundant DB9 development hacks and drafted them into the prototype shop to be turned into DBS replicas. From the outside these sacrificial lambs looked identical to the fully formed ‘hero’ cars already working their stuff for the cameras. Inside, they were rather less polished, with tatty, rough-grained dashboards and stout roll-cages betraying their origins as pre-production workhorses. The tired matt-black vents and buttons on the top half of the dash were pretty far from the chrome-splashed versions in the show cars but, to avoid any risk of knackering continuity, the team came up with a cunning fix involving careful application of kitchen tin-foil.

The car everyone has been waiting for since seeing Casino Royale is finally here. Aston Martin has taken the wraps off the stunning DBS coupe, revealing a car that exudes performance and power yet still has the same proportions that made the DB9 one of the most beautiful cars in the world. The DBS will be officially unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance this week and will go on sale in Q1 2008.

Under the hood you’ll find the same venerable 6.0L V12 engine found in the DB9 but with a number of modifications. These include a ‘by-pass’ engine air intake port that opens above 5500rpm to allow more air into the engine, and re-profiled air inlet ports that further improve airflow into the combustion chamber. Mated to the engine is a six-speed manual gearbox – no “softcore” auto for the DBS, thank you. The result is a power output of 380kW (510hp) and peak torque of 420 lb.ft (570Nm). In addition, Aston Martin’s extensive use of carbon fibre has reduced the weight of the DBS to 1695kg, around 65kg less than the equivalent manual DB9.

How does it perform? Glad you asked. The DBS will hit 100km/h in just 4.3 seconds and keep pulling all the way to a 191mph (302km/h) top speed, making it a true supercar.

Everyone knows that power without control is nothing, which is why Aston Martin has pulled all the stops to make the DBS excel around the track. It’s the first Aston to be fitted with carbon ceramic brakes, greatly reducing stopping distances and providing excellent resistance to fade. Also new is an Adaptive Damping System with five different settings to adjust the car’s ride and handling characteristics. Providing contact with the road are 295 size 20” Pirelli tyres in the rear.