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It’s hard to make a case for Die Another Day as a great James Bond movie, but it did do one important thing for the franchise: reunite 007 and Aston Martin. Bond actor Pierce Brosnan was so enamored with his character’s new ride that he ordered one for himself. But that Aston Martin Vanquish did not live to die another day.
In an Instagram reel posted by HaphazardStuff, Brosnan explains that he asked if he could have a Vanquish during filming. A build slot was duly arranged. Brosnan said he went to the factory to see his car being assembled, and three months after filming of Die Another Day wrapped, it was delivered to him. On February 11, 2015, a fire broke out at Brosnan’s Malibu, California, house, destroying the car.
HaphazardStuff via Instag
All that’s left are two plaques that were affixed to the kick plates reading “Hand built in England for Pierce Brosnan.” An ignominious end for a great machine.
As featured in Die Another Day, the original Vanquish was the capstone of Aston’s 1990s resurgence under Ford ownership. It pumped up the design language introduced with the DB7, as well as the power from Aston’s 5.9-liter V12. Initial versions produced 460 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque, which got the Vanquish from 0 to 60 mph in 5.0 seconds and onto a top speed of 190 mph, according to Aston. The later Vanquish S (introduced in 2005) had 520 hp and 426 lb-ft. An underdeveloped paddle-shifted six-speed gearbox (essentially a manually with an electronically-actuated clutch) spoiled things a bit, but the Vanquish was still a truly desirable for a new generation.
https://www.instagram.com/reels/DYZVDotjoGP
And that was before it became a movie star. Die Another Day was Brosnan’s last Bond movie, and he’d driven a BMW in all of the others. The Vanquish not only felt right because it was an Aston, but because it was armed to the teeth with machine guns that popped out of the hood vents and rockets in the grille. It also had adaptive camouflage—Q famously called it “the Vanish”—and the remote-control feature previously seen in Tomorrow Never Dies. An appropriately ridiculous car chase with the baddie’s Jaguar XKR convertible on a glacier ensued. Too bad the rest of the movie wasn’t as good.
That car chase was filmed with four-wheel drive cars made from Vanquish body shells and Ford Explorer V8 engines and drivetrains. But some genuine Vanquishes were used as “hero cars” for close-ups and promotions. One of those was put up for sale in 2024 with a $129,000 asking price. That’s still less than a new Vanquish, which carries on the V12 tradition and, unlike the original, is also available in convertible Volante form. Seems like the perfect ride for whoever the next Bond turns out to be.
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Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he’s not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.
