James Bond gets his 

Aston Martin DB5 

back in Skyfall

update:movie review 
http://sdanielshortwintercom.blogspot.com/2012/11/skyfall-new-movie-release-i-had-very.html

It's about damn time...

I have never understood a few things about the British. 

A few years ago, a dude from Germany named Hitler decided to go on holiday in Poland...then thought it would be a hoot to extend his vacation into France and England. 

Oh, it was all fun and games until London accidentally got bombed into oblivion. For you younger readers, Adolph Hitler dragged America into the war by attacking Pearl Harbor in hopes of cornering the iPhone market. It didn't work, but it did lead to the birth of the crappy Android.

But here in the U.S., we always knew that Hitler was Europe's ultimate playground bully. 

Why didn't the Brits? 

And more importantly, why in the world would they put their most iconic British symbol - MI5's Secret Service agent 007 - into a German car?

Once again, for the young readers, James Bond received a rather lame BMW Z3 in 1995's GoldenEye, which some market analysts believe to be the most effective product placement in a film...ever.

The next James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, had two spectacular Bond car chases. 

One was a chase with Pierce Brosnan and Michelle Yeoh on a BMW  bike, and my personal favorite...the remote-controlled 750i that becomes a Kamikaze. 

Bonzai!!!

The Pierce Brosnan era ended in 2002 with Die Another Day, then picked back up with the awesome 2006 Casino Royale. 

Not only was the reboot grittier, darker and nastier - it also had Daniel Craig as James Bond...and he was back in an Aston Martin. Technically, the DB5 featured in Casino Royale wasn't his, as Bond won it in a card game -plus it was left hand drive, a big no-no for Bond. 

There is a famous scene in Casino Royale where Bond's DBS V12 rolls several times. For this stunt, a DB9 modified with air cannons was used, setting a new roll-over record. 

The reason the stunt coordinators had to use air cannons? 

The Aston Martin is so well planted that it wouldn't roll on its own.

Let's move on....

The rather poor 2008 installment, Quantum of Solace - shot without a finished shooting script - opens with a fantastic and scary chase scene with James Bond and his beloved Aston Martin. Too bad the rest of the flick is a big convoluted mess. 

And it sucked balls.

Quantum of Solace almost killed the series, which wasn't helped when MGM filed for bankruptcy in 2010. 

But things are back on track....

James is back with Skyfall, and it seems he's returned to his roots with an Aston Martin DB5. We missed you, cute little DB.

Aston Martin first introduced the DB5 in 1963, as a followup to the incredible DB4. To everyone's surprise, the DB5 became world famous in the James Bond movie Goldfinger a year later. 

I bet nobody could foresee that the same model would be gracing the silver screen 48 years later - still cherished as James Bond's ride.

You handsome man, you

The DB5 is a signature car for James Bond. The stylish body and chassis are quite heavy for a sport car, however, weighing at 3,300 lbs. 

The engine is a 4.0 liter inline-six producing 282 horsepower, with a top speed of 145 miles per hour, and 0-to-60 times of about 8 seconds...which is still very respectable, even today.

John Stears, the special effects guy that built the first weapons-equipped DB5 for Goldfinger, won an Oscar for his efforts.

With rotating license plates, machine guns, tire slashers and a passenger ejector seat, the Goldfinger DB5 was the ultimate uber-granddaddy of cool.

Interestingly, that particular car was stolen in 1997, and has never been recovered. I'm thinking there may be a new Bond villain out there we don't know about.

The world has indeed embraced the DB5 as the most recognizable car in cinematic history. Most people only know it as the James Bond car, which is a shame. Aston Martin may not make the most reliable automobiles, but they certainly build some of the best looking.

Aston Martin's past is littered with unbelievably gorgeous cars, some that I myself have only recently discovered. I used to think Jag and Ferrari made the most beautiful cars, but the more I learn about Aston Martin, the more my mind is changing about that.

I don't know much about Skyfall, other than the previews look great. I also don't know how much of a part the DB5 plays in this film. 

It is supposed to be Bond's personal car, though, so I guess we'll have to wait and see.

I am not the type to read the ending of a book first. By the same token, for a movie that I'm really looking forward to - I don't wanna know too much.

Either the film will enthrall me or disappoint me. But I prefer to know that on opening day, not several months beforehand.

See more about James Bond 

and his cool cars here