So Mr Bond, which car will you be wanting tomorrow, the Aston or the Lotus?

Two iconic British brands, Aston Martin and Lotus. There were rumours last year that Aston Martin and Lotus may be exploring a cooperative agreement or merger. The two companies might pool their engineering, purchasing and production resources to reduce costs. A marriage made in heaven?

The two brands are the stuff of schoolboy dreams but they are quite different. Lotus have light, fast mid-engined sports cars, whereas Aston Martin has powerful luxurious front engined GTs.

I have 13 Astons from Hot Wheels (Green DB5 x 2, Red x 1, metallic light blue x 1 and silver “Skyfall” x 1), Hot Wheels V8 Vantage, Matchbox (Silver and black DBS Volante), Majorette (Blue DB7), DeAgostini (Light Green DB4) two Aston Martin One-77s (by unbranded Chinese manufacturers) and TicToc (Silver “James Bond” DB5).

There seems little difference between the “Skyfall” Aston and the regular Hot Wheels Astons except for the packaging, the colour and a slightly higher price (8 lari to 6.90 lari).

I am missing the iconic Corgi James Bond Aston DB5 with all the secret gadgets like ejector seat, tyre slashers and changeable number plates, widely considered to be Corgi‘s greatest design.

The DB5 is the definitive gran turismo: brawny yet sophisticated, sensuous yet square-jawed. Civilian versions used a hand-built in-line six-cylinder engine with 280 horsepower, matched to a manual gearbox and wrapped in an elegant, lightweight aluminium body.

Which would I choose? I think it would be dependent on my mood. As for Mr Bond, I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you 😉

more on Lotus (click the link)