Aston Martin
V8 saloons for "The Living Daylights"

Why it matters

The Living Daylights (1987) marked Aston Martin's return as James Bond's car, but the saloons on screen were not new cars. Because of an 18-month waiting list, the producers bought older V8s second-hand and modified them to look like a new V8 Saloon, and the film cars received gadgets such as outrigger skis and a rocket booster.

How rare is it?

Six separate kinds of rarity – never combined into one number.

Each kind of rarity is rated separately and never combined.

Production

Every figure says what it counts.

Independent counts (e.g. engine and colour) are never combined into a calculated figure. Surviving examples are never presented as original production.

History

Only the Volante, chairman Victor Gauntlett's personal car, was a new model in the film. A brief scene showed it being winterised with a hardtop, so older V8s made to look like the new saloon could be used for the rest of the film. RM says four real cars and seven fibreglass shells are understood to have been used.

Car Number 10 (chassis V8/10596/RCA) was completed in October 1973 as a fuel-injected automatic in Tudor Green and was acquired by EON in 1986. Static gadgets were fitted to the real cars, while shots of working skis and rockets were mostly filmed on fibreglass mock-ups. A separate process unit, a V8 with front and rear ends removed for blue-screen filming, was later stripped and its parts transferred to a 1976 car.

Technical specifications

Engine

Transmission & drivetrain

Chassis, body & dimensions

Performance

“Not yet verified” means no source has been checked for that value yet. Nothing is estimated to fill a gap.

Identification guide

How to tell an original from a replica or later conversion.

Film V8s were older cars altered to resemble the newer saloon. Car Number 10 received fibreglass rear bodywork, a carburettor-specification bonnet, updated wheels, a simulated sunroof, a simulated rocket booster, removable skis on the sills, a roll cage and steel skid plates, and its engine and gearbox were removed for stunt use. Prop replicas were fibreglass shells only. Bonhams describes the donor cars as older 'Oscar India' V8s. EON's internal car numbers and the chassis numbers (V8/10596/RCA for car 10) are the way to trace a film car.

Sources

Each number links to the exact facts it supports.

1. 1
   Guide: Aston Martin V8 'The Living Daylights' | Supercar Nostalgia Level B

   • 4 functional second-hand V8 Saloons used (plus seven fibreglass mock-ups, which are excluded)

   Accessed 2026-11-11
2. 2
   AMV8 (1972 - 1989) Level A Aston Martin Lagonda

   • DOHC V8, 5340 cc
   • 5340 cc

   Accessed 2026-11-12