Spectre’s late 2015 release provided an ideal global platform for motoring media to speculate on Aston Martin’s future design direction with its long anticipated DB11 launch set for March 2016.

Cinematically the DB10’s design had to reflect Bond’s brutish power while operating as a metaphor for his character journey through the Spectre story.

The creative idea was to make DB10 ‘the hunter’. Its design inspired by shark-like features. A strong uncompromising predator tracking its prey, yet equally agile, reactive and tensile when under threat.

The DB10’s exterior styling was crafted by sculpting simple hard yet sharp lines from the front to the protruding rear shoulder. The nose was the lowest produced keeping the front grille in shadow to add menace. Its interior continues the masculine theme but with detailed spec that delivers an armoured sensitivity through soft leathers against hard composites with beautiful soft feel paints and polished, refined detailing.

The DB10 was designed to be a contemporary cinematic statement – thrilling movie goers and sports car fans alike, and to convey an authentic driving performance. Rather than use CGI the DB10 was engineered to handle a continuous series of hard driving tests including 80 foot jumps, speeding down steps and powering along steep embankments.

To achieve this eight DB10 film cars were built. Four were assigned to interior filming sequences featuring close-ups of ‘gadgets’ and Bond. A special ‘steel pod’ was engineered onto two DB10 roofs, so a stunt driver could remotely drive each car while Daniel Craig acted out interior scenes. Two other DB10’s were used for the exterior sequences – hard driving, jumps and power slides.

Sam Mendes worked closely Aston Martin’s design team to ensure both the exterior and interior would deliver spectacularly for the big screen. The distinctive clamshell bonnet, Knife-blade LED headlights, a specially created Spectre silver paint all combined beautifully to compliment the futuristic yet familiar DB shape.

Its interior was designed to match the masculine cues of the exterior, and operated as a fully functioning road car with an illuminated instrument display, plus its weapons and secret toggle switches.

Aston’s design team had four months to complete what normally takes four years.

Week1-6. Design team shared sketch concepts with Sam Mendes. One was selected and crafted in clay to accurately represent the contemporary sketch form.

Week 7-10. A full scale clay model underwent computer contour analysis to create 3D moulds for the DB10’s carbon fibre exterior. Its interior went from sketch concepts to clay replica’s complete with fascia, steering wheel and door interiors, refined and adjusted before sign off. Leathers, alloys and composite materials were chosen.

Week 11 – 14. A V8 Vantage wheelbase was adjusted to safely deliver the performance requirements of the driving scenes. The interior seats, cabin upholstery, exterior body panels (in specially commissioned Spectre silver paintwork) are fitted along with knife blade wheels.

Week 15-17. The DB10 is given a full performance road test to ensure it can be driven to its limits when onset.

Spectre was 6th most successful movie of 2015 with a $1.1b box office. Screened across 68 countries, Aston Martin engaged all its markets through its Spectre brand communications programme.

The DB10 was the most visible brand in Spectre with four minutes of screen time. The driving scenes, all featuring Bond, powerfully associate the brand with the qualities of Bond, and its literal display of speed, agility and technical class.

Although not a commercial road car, a DB10 was auctioned for over £3m at Christies to raise money for charity. With motoring press reporting key design features of DB10 inspired elements of the recently launched DB11, over 1000 pre-orders were secured ahead of its March 2016 Geneva launch.

Future Aston Martin models in development will continue to reflect DB10’s distinctive design styling.

Supported by a digital brochure, all 150 DB9 GT Bond editions cars sold out in Autumn 2015.

Aston Martin has become synonymous with the Bond franchise – a relationship that has endured for over fifty years. Every Bond car and its gadgets have evolved to iconic status. For Spectre, Director Sam Mendes wanted its long term partner Aston Martin to design a completely new car for fans to get excited about.

It had to be beautiful, contemporary and timeless but in an unexpected way. Like Bond, it should possess a classy, quintessentially British demeanour and brutal power.

The car had to perform high speed stunts and manoeuvres reliably within a strict production schedule on the narrow and cobbled streets of Rome.

To support their association with Spectre movie on a global level, Aston Martin needed to create a suite of brand communication assets which further showcased the craft and elegance of the Aston Martin brand while generating further interest in the film.