Whatever happens, that Aston Martin is mine

There are only a couple of zeros between James Bond and me

We all remember James Bond, aka 007, aka Sean Connery, the retired hit man and/or spy who now sits on a log on the back page of the paper drooling over his super-expensive Louis Vuitton sports bag. We’re a lot alike, James and I. It’s all a matter of zeros – he was, if you remember, a double zero man. I have a few zeros to my name as well, mainly in my bank account. The other thing we have in common is a liking for Aston Martin Cars. This is relevant because the latest model, Aston Martin, was formally unwrapped at the Geneva Motor Show which took place in March.

I was there

I happened to be in Geneva at that time on the strength of a Personal Loan I had taken from the Personal Money Store to go to Switzerland to examine the plans for a new solar power station that is being planned for installation in Spain. That part of the visit went very well. I did the work, wrote my report, submitted my account, received a check, paid back the Personal Loan and then made the mistake of visiting the Car Show. The moment I laid eyes on that car, everything went into collapse. I have to have one! There will only be 77 made – imagine its value in a couple of years’ time.

The price

Now the price of the One-77 model is being tantalizingly released. There is no final confirmation but it is strongly rumored to be in the $1 million region. The construction will be a rigid carbon fiber chassis, a 7.3-liter V12 engine and more than 560kW of power. The car will weigh about 3,300 lbs and will be capable of a 0-100km/h sprint in around 3.5 seconds. Top speed, and this is the feature that excites both James and I, will be over 200mph. So when I pick up my grandson at the swimming pool just off Highway No 4 and the traffic is moving at a steady 7 mph, I will thoroughly enjoy all the features of my new Aston Martin.

The Mille Miglia

I am writing this within earshot of the death throes of General Motors coming from the TV in the next room. Here’s a strange item: The Mille Miglia is a celebratory road rally designed to evoke the spirit of the famous Italian road race. The participants are a selection of exotic sports cars from the years between 1920 and 1957. The rally takes place on the roads between Brescia and Rome. There were 377 entrants and there was not a single sign of financial problems or recession among any of them. I guess that for some lucky people it’s high-end auto-business as usual. Aston Martin must be feeling pretty confident about producing $1 million cars at a time like this.

I’m calling James

I will call James Bond in the morning and see if he is interested in some sort of joint venture with this new model Aston Martin, something like “You pay, I’ll drive”?