There’s no stopping Bond now. A year and a half after No Time to Die, Daniel Craig’s final outing as 007, was supposed to premiere, the final trailer is out and the film is set for a theatrical release on October 8. For Craig, it marks the beginning of a delayed retirement from a character he’s played for 15 years. For the rest of us, it’s a bittersweet moment when we’ll finally lay our eyes on one of the most highly anticipated action movies in years while saying goodbye to arguably the best actor to play the secret agent.
Which leads us to the question, how are you going to mark the occasion? Will it be the first time you feel compelled to go back to the theater? Will you go back and watch every Craig Bond, from Casino Royale to Spectre, in order to get a refresher? After all, it’s been six years since the last installment.
For those who take their James Bond fandom seriously and have cash to burn, we suggest another route: picking up the new Defender V8 Bond Edition, which has been created by Land Rover’s SV Bespoke team. Inspired by No Time to Die, the SUV is based on the fastest, most powerful version of the Defender yet, limited to 300 examples, and starts at $114,600.
If that sounds like a big chunk of change for what is essentially a promotional tool, know that the standard version of this same Defender — with the V8 engine (new for the 2022 model year), 110 body style (the four-door, not two-door), Xenon Blue front brake calipers and black-on-black color scheme — goes for just a few thousand less. And besides, there have been and will always be hokey cross-promotional movie cars (the Transformers Camaro comes to mind), but the Bond tie-ins actually manage to serve the marketing purposes while being legitimate collector cars.
More Like This
Take for example the DB5 Goldfinger continuation cars Aston Martin sold a couple years ago with actual working gadgets. Those beauts cost $3.5 million each and sold out in the blink of an eye — and they weren’t even road legal. Meanwhile these Defenders are not only ready and willing to take on your regularly scheduled driving habits, but as we’ve seen in the clips from No Time to Die so far, they can handle more action than you’re ever likely to put them through.
Besides taking design cues from the Defenders that appear in the new movie, the Bond Edition vehicles feature “Defender 007” badging on the rear, a unique touchscreen animation, etching specifying the limited-edition nature of the models, illuminated interior treadplates and even puddle lamps that display the 007 logo on the ground when it’s dark.
No, there are no ejector seats or oil slicks to be found here. But that tracks with Craig’s tenure as James Bond, doesn’t it? Less flash, all class.
More Like This
This article was featured in the InsideHook newsletter. Sign up now.
