Thursday, December 4, 2014

Bond has a new car that isn't, and evo. have done two thirds of a test we'd all like to see.


  More on the above, later.  First bit's first.  evo. magazine have gotten a McLaren P1 and a Porsche 918 together for the first time, and it went... well, not quite like we would have expected.


  For some reason, I keep underestimating the Porsche.  Yes, it's heavy, but it's also very powerful, and very torquey, and everyone who's driven it has taped about how fast it is.  Meanwhile, CAR Magazine is busy with the other bit of this test, managing to smuggle a LaFerrari out of Maranello, for a rendezvous with a P1.  Different drivers, different conditions, roads vs. track; it's not a very good situation, but I fear it will be a while before we get to see all three cars tested together.  Someone needs to do it though, because I need my vicarious throttle-jollies.

  But on to less important matters.  The makers of the next James Bond movie released a bunch of tidbits to the press this morning, and inevitably, the question of Bond's next vehicle came up.  Unsurprisingly, it will be an Aston Martin.  Shockingly (But again, not really surprisingly) Aston have nothing interesting enough in their current stable, so they've had to make something up.  Of course, that's not how Aston themselves put it.  They're building ten of them, and there's no word on any of them being for sale.  There's also no word on specs/drivetrain/chassis/ but I'd be amazed if it turns out to be anything but a dressed up V12 Vantage.  Aston don't really have the money to build an all new car at the moment.  It's a shame really, I'd like to see Bond driving a car to which one could aspire, even one for which I could never hoe to assemble the money.  By removing the car completely from reality, I really feel like something has been lost.  Then again, this all takes place in Bondland, where casting Monica Bellucci at 50 is the kind of incredibly forward thinking decision for which a director "deserves credit," and not the simple technicality of a 25 year old Monica Bellucci not having existed for 25 years.

  The other issue with letting Aston Martin make believe, is that there are a least two perfectly relevant Bond Cars on the market, or hitting it momentarily.  One is Jaguar's F-Type R Coupe.  The other is even more suitable, with one tiny drawback...

  Look, it's not like Bond has never had a German car, but he's only done so when in terrible movies. Still, with the lack of anything British that fits the bill, I think the producers should have given a little consideration to the AMG GT.  This is honestly the first Mercedes-Benz I've found really exciting since... what, the CLK GTR, and it's totally a Bond Car?  Also, it looks like this car actually works.

  On that note, I'm done here for today.  It's been raining for the last two days in  Los Angeles, and I'm eager to go for a ride, and then a drive.

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