Live And Let Die: the Aston Martin DB12 S

How much Bond can this story take? A legitimate question. In front of us: an Aston Martin. The new DB12 S on the Côte d'Azur. Two bold theses to start with: Without James Bond, this Aston Martin would probably not exist in this form. And: Timothy Dalton is the coolest Bond in film history.

Flashback: A little over 30 years ago, a red Ferrari F355 GTS and a silver Aston Martin DB5 - with Pierce Brosnan at the wheel - chased like cats and dogs down the winding mountain passes near Gréolières. It is the legendary opening scene of the "Golden Eye" film. The fact that the stunt drivers had a hard time putting the classic car up against a state-of-the-art Ferrari during filming? No problem. The DB5 had a rigid axle and drum brakes. The filming must have been like the guy who comes to a gunfight with a knife, but is always keen to look damn cool. In the end, it's the story and the result on the screen that counts: There's no business like showbusiness.

Maybe a few young people were sitting in the cinema back then, thinking something along the lines of: "Yes, exactly! An Aston Martin must be able to chase a Ferrari on a winding mountain pass. That's how it should be." And perhaps it is precisely these people who are working at Aston Martin in Gaydon today.

Jumping into 2018, Marek Reichman is Creative Chief Officer at Aston Martin. He is the master of automotive storytelling, if you like. And he stands in front of media representatives from all over the world and presents the DBS Superleggera: 770 hp, V12 turbo, 900 Newton metres of power at the rear axle. The colour: red. Certainly no coincidence. Reichman emphasises the word "Superleggera" with a feigned Italian accent. Then he says: "If Ferrari can call a model by the British word Superfast, then we can also call an Aston Martin a Superleggera." Way to throw down the gauntlet. Not just in the cinema. In the same breath, Reichman declared the age of the purely aesthetic and ironically coloured function-follows-form to be over. Aston Martin stopped making automotive sculptures for the Concours d'Elegance and started shooting.

Jump to the year 2026 and to the new DB12 S. A black Alfa 159 drives past - after all. If there is no Ferrari to be seen here on the winding roads of the Côte d'Azur, however, the occupants make no sign of immediately opening fire with submachine guns. The bad guys don't seem to be what they used to be either. The press department is delighted: the new Aston Martin returns without bullet holes.

In general, the DB12 S demands full attention. It starts with the nomenclature. The number twelve is in the model name, but under the bonnet is a twin-turbo V8. Then there is the letter S. This stands for many things, but above all, for “credibility“. Research reveals a whopping 700 hp, which, upon critical enquiry, has no connection with the 007 designation. Otherwise: four litres of displacement, octane-fired 800 Newton metres of torque without electric motor support, to 100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 325 km/h. These are hard facts. This Aston Martin is no longer just a beautiful appearance, it shows real performance.

For years, an Aston Martin was breathtaking to look at as long as it was stationary. People bought them out of aesthetic awareness, patriotism or the mistaken belief that they were James Bond. The latter, as we know, means you're actually an alcoholic civil servant with commitment issues. And while the Aston Martin was for show, you drove Porsche. Turbo or GT3 were the cars of choice when you needed a specialised weapon.

A comparison with a Ferrari comes to mind at this point. The obvious choice is the 12Cilindri, which has a front-mid engine and a similar wheelbase. But we'll leave that to the esteemed spies of the specialised press. We would be interested in a chase with a Ferrari F355. Because today, with a similar age difference of more than 30 years as the DB5 back then, it has a completely different technical level. We say: The Ferrari could certainly keep up, even if it only has 380 hp - it weighs a good 500 kilograms less than the DB12 S.

Speaking of proof: We have to talk about Timothy Dalton. He really was the coolest James Bond. Take this statement to the next party and say it like this: Roger Moore was a clown in a dinner jacket, Pierce Brosnan grinned so much that even a car chase in a DB5 turned into a slapstick number. And Sean Connery? He was basically nothing more than the personified equivalent of a 1960s car interior: lots of leather, lots of ash, but structurally unstable.

Dalton played Bond the way Ian Fleming wrote him: as a "blunt instrument" of the government. He was the first Bond who looked as if he had actually killed someone and would not toast with a martini afterwards, but call his therapist. Dalton was the first Bond to throw all the nostalgic baggage overboard. He quit the service, he bled, he was driven by revenge, not orders. He was the first Bond with measurable consequences. His game was no longer just a pretence, it was a real performance.