Will this become the most expensive car in the world?
That will be decided by the international auction market, but all the indications are that the Aston Martin DB10 – as driven by Daniel Craig as James Bond in the movie Spectre – could claim that title when it is sold next year.
The car was unveiled in Dubai last week at the Aston Martin showroom near The Dubai Mall, and I was lucky enough to be among, but not one of, the petrol-head journos there who got a glimpse of the vehicle.
Even a motor amateur like me had to take a sharp intake of breath when Neil Slade, Aston’s general manager for the Middle East, pulled back the wraps. Like a sleek silver shark, it simply oozed power and deadly style. It looks like it has teeth and two predatory eyes, I thought. “This new interpretation of the iconic Aston Martin grill hints at the car’s stealthy character,” said the accompanying press real ease.
It was one of only 10 DB10s made for the movie, Mr Slade explained. Four of them were completely written off – regrettably but intentionally – in the course of the filming; five will go on show at various Aston showrooms, car museums and at the studios of Eon Productions, the company that makes the Bond movies.
That leaves one to be auctioned for charity some time next year. It will not be the one that was in Dubai because, for all its classy contours, that one will only ever travel again on the back of a transporter.
“It ended up at the bottom of the river Tiber in Rome after one of the car chase scenes in the movie, and it had to fished out after spending some time under water. That doesn’t do much for a high-performance engine,” Mr Slade said. For all its good looks, it was basically just a very sleek shell.
So how much did he think it would go for in open bidding? Here, Mr Slade is cagey. “I couldn’t say for sure, and we don’t have any official reserve price or anything like that. But if I had 50 of these, I think I could easily find buyers at £1 million [Dh5.6m] each. So do the maths.”“Say around £5m?” I suggested. Mr Slade did not disagree with that estimate.
Which would probably be good enough to get it into the record books as the most expensive street-legal car in the world. The Mayerbach Exelero currently holds that title at $8m, leaving the long-time leader Bugatti Veron eating dust at $2.4m.
But the DB10 has rarity and uniqueness on its side, and could come in at a lot more than that. Several historic collectors cars, especially Ferraris, have gone for $30m plus at auction.
But none of them had been driven by James Bond.
fkane@thenational.ae
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