10 Unique Features In James Bond’s Aston Martin DB10

Over the past 59 years, we’ve been treated to some spectacular cars in 26 different James Bond films depicting Ian Fleming’s legendary British spy in action. While Bond has driven cars such as the Lotus Esprit S1 and plenty of motorcycles, the Aston Martin brand has become a staple of the franchise.

In Daniel Graig’s second-to-last film portraying the famed spy, Spectre, Bond featured in one of the most memorable car chase sequences in recent franchise history. Being chased by another prototype in the form of the Jaguar C-X75, Bond was behind the wheel of the Aston Martin DB10, which was custom-made for the 2015 film after director Sam Mendes fell in love with the design.

Due to being a purpose-built model, the DB10 is one of the most sought-after Aston Martin cars of all time. While taking inspiration from Aston Martin models of its time, the DB10 came out of the gates with an all-new bespoke design, which makes us wish it ended up as a production model. Here’s a closer look at the standout features of the incredibly limited Aston Martin DB10.

In order to give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from Aston Martin, and other authoritative sources, including Top Gear.

10 A Shark-Inspired Design

Blending Aggression With Elegance

As with any Aston Martin from the last 20 years, the DB10’s design style combines both elements of speed and luxury, creating the perfect cover car for a James Bond film. While other Aston Martins share links with a shark’s nature, the DB10 goes all in, using hard edges along with smooth curves throughout.

Key Design Elements:

• The rear end of the car features a small lip spoiler, closely resembling the newest generation of the Vantage sports car.
• The clamshell-designed hood panel features small circular air intake holes on either side of the double creases.
• The DB10 features the iconic Aston Martin grille, but this time much lower down on the front bumper.

The shark inspiration can most clearly be seen at the front of the DB10, with the hood panel curving down before splitting into the front bumper emulating a shark’s mouth. The organic oval-shaped grille made a return on the DB10, standing out massively against the somewhat simple, yet modern front fascia.

9 The Bespoke Front Headlights

Shining Bright In The City Of Rome

While we first see the Aston Martin DB10 in all its glory at MI5’s headquarters, the sports car is most prominently featured in the car chase sequence through Rome at night. Zipping through the dimly lit city made it quite hard to see the DB10’s shape, but the bright headlights stood out perfectly.

With the rest of the front fascia closely resembling a shark, it’s only right that the headlights act as the eyes, which perfectly complements the minimalistic design philosophy. While most of the Astons of 2015 featured more simple, oval-shaped headlight covers, the DB10 almost splits into two segments, adding plenty of aggression to the simple front end of the car.

8 Limited To Ten Units, Eight Being Used For Filming

Becoming One Of The Rarest Aston Martins Ever Made

Throughout the DB10s’ development, the sports car was always intended to be exclusively produced for Spectre. Due to this, only ten units of the DB10 were produced, with eight of them being modified and used for the explosive car chase sequence. As a result, seven of the eight cars used for production were destroyed during the sequence.

As for the two remaining DB10s, these cars were used for promotion leading up to the release of Spectre. After the film’s release, one of the two promotional cars went up for auction in London hosted by Christie’s, where it sold for much higher than anticipated. The DB10 sold for a whopping £2,424,500, which would have equated to around $3.5 million. Originally, the car was expected to sell for between $1.4 million and $2.2 million, proving how desirable this essentially one-off Aston Martin is.

7 Its Borrowed 4.7-Liter V-8

Putting Down Plenty Of Power

Despite the DB10 featuring an all-new design, Aston Martin decided to use the same 4.7-liter V-8 from the Vantage at the time. It didn’t make much sense to develop an entirely new powertrain for the DB10 as it was only built for the film, but still needed a powerful engine to make the nighttime car chase as memorable as it was.

Performance Specifications

(Data was collected from Aston Martin)

When Bond is introduced to the car, Q tells him that the DB10 can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds, but Aston Martin says the 4.7-liter V-8 can reach 60 miles per hour in 4.7 seconds. Still an impressive feat, but not quite the 3.2 seconds to rival the fastest supercars of its time. Producing 430 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque, the DB10 would have a top speed of 190 miles per hour, managing to stay ahead of the mighty Jaguar C-X75 concept car.

6 The Brand New Wheel Designs

Completing The Design

In order to bring together the shark-inspired design style of the DB10, the sports car, of course, had to feature a new, bold set of rims to be the standout feature. Aston Martin’s, like the 2015 Vantage, feature spoke rim designs, as does the DB10. However, the DB10 follows a much more minimalist style, with the inner sections of each spoke featuring a diagonal endpoint to create a rotating look.

This design choice not only captures the essence of the DB10’s shark-inspired design but also adds a unique and modern feel to the sports car. The wheels are also finished in a similar sleek silver color that perfectly complements the car’s primary color, keeping this as minimal as possible.

5 Action-Ready Suspension

Being More Than Capable For The Big Jumps

Throughout the Rome car chase, the DB10 is put through plenty of high-octane stunts, requiring the car to literally drive through the roof of another. With plenty of hard landings, the production team for Spectre made sure that the DB10 could handle it, fitting bespoke dampers to the suspension for additional ride height.

Besides the heavy landings, the DB10 needed new dampers to hold the increased weight of the cameras, specifically on the front end. As each section of the car chase required different camera setups, stunt driver Mark Higgins assisted with tuning the updated suspension to extract the most performance possible.

4 The Extensive List Of Q Branch Modifications

Giving Bond All The Essential Bells and Whistles

Something that almost every Aston Martin features throughout the James Bond franchise is the weaponry. With flamethrowers, machine guns and ejector seats being included in Bond’s Aston since Goldfinger, released in 1964, it was a treat to see the latest, cutting-edge model to include these iconic weapons.

Looking at the Q Branch Modifications in detail, the machine gun is rear-mounted on the DB10 and operated by the backfire button. This combines with the digital targeting system, which is displayed on the rear windscreen. The twin-exhaust flamethrowers light the Jaguar C-X75 on fire before Bond uses the ejector to escape the DB10 before it flies into the River Tiber.

3 Its Carbon Fiber Shell

Lightweight And Bulletproof

Of course, alongside the Q Branch modifications, the DB10 had to be made out of the strongest, most lightweight material possible. The car’s body panels are completely made out of carbon fiber, which can be noticed on the exposed sill and diffuser, along with a full clamshell hood panel with a heat-mapped perforation pattern.

To top it off, the DB10 has bulletproof armor in the film. While nobody has tested whether that’s the case in real life, it most certainly came in handy for Bond while getting shot at while escaping the Palazzo Cadenza.

2 The Much Wider Wheelbase Compared To The Vantage

Creating A Perfectly Imposing Image

While the exterior of the DB10 was designed essentially from scratch, it’s built upon a modified platform of the V8 Vantage. The two cars are similar in size and share a similar coupe-style shape, but the wider wheelbase leads to a much more aggressive look for the custom-built Aston Martin.

Overall, the Aston Martin DB10 has a wheelbase measuring at 106 inches, whereas the 2015 Vantage measures in at 102 inches. While the four-inch difference might not seem like much, the extra space makes room for the bespoke headlight design, which is easily one of the most important elements of the front fascia.

1 Designed To Bridge The Gap Between The Old And New

Honoring The Iconic DB5

Despite the James Bond franchise featuring countless iconic Aston Martin models over the years, the DB10 is actually the first custom-built car for 007. Although it features the most modern design of any Aston in history before the release of Spectre, the DB10 still honors the cars that came before.

Aston Martin DB5 Callbacks In The DB10

• The two models share almost the exact same oval grille shape on the front fascia.
• The air vent on the side of the DB10 strongly resembles the design of the DB5.
• The DB10 features a much more aggressive front-end drop-off than other 2015 Aston Martins, something that was also included on the DB5.

The most prominent callback to older models can be seen with the DB10’s shoulder line, which was purposefully highlighted to replicate the DB5. Despite the DB5 being the first Aston Martin Bond was behind the wheel of back in 1964, the design team perfectly blended modern design philosophy with the car that started it all for the legendary British spy.