Cars and chase scenes from “No Time To Die”

A new James Bond movie, “No Time To Die” is hitting theaters, and for the car guys that means cool cars are becoming the stars as much as glitzy Hollywood actors. As usual, Aston Martin is leading the way, but we also have actions involving Jaguars and Land Rovers, with supporting roles from Maserati and Toyota.

The cars serve as auxiliary characters and create much of the action in this action flick. They also advertise their brands.

“They have so much screen time, and they (the automakers) put their brand in front of the camera, and similarly we get some really smart and cool vehicles from them,” said Neil Layton, the supervisor-coordinator. action vehicles from the film. Driving authority.

Four different Aston Martins feature in the film, highlighted of course by Bond’s requisite 1960s DB5, one of the most beautiful cars ever made. The DB5 stars in several chase scenes and is pretty battered. Don’t worry, however, no real DB5s were hurt in the making of this movie.

Layton told us that 10 DB5s were used in the movie, two real cars and eight replicas. Layton had worked for the British Prodrive racing shop supporting the Subaru rally team and at Aston Martin in the prototype and department, so he had the knowledge to build performance cars.

Layton’s company, Auto Action Developments, worked with Aston Martin to produce these eight replicas. The teams only had six months to build the cars, but they had the advantage of familiarity.

“It was a natural integration where I can actually come back and we speak the same language,” Layton said. Layton was also able to add the equipment to the cars he needed for the movie during the build process. This included both gear equipment to make the cars real performers and equipment to help with the filming process.

Layton’s performance characteristics turned DB5 replicas into track ready restomods. The cars were built around a bespoke space chassis and wrapped in carbon fiber bodyshells. Layton said they used over 380bhp inline 6-cylinder engines, but he did not confirm the brand. Sure, that looks like BMW’s 382-horsepower B58 3.0-liter turbo inline-six from the Z4 and Toyota Supra to us.

Each stunt car also came with racing crankset, hydraulic handbrake, quick steering rack, rear limited slip differential, roll bar, safety systems , racing harnesses and racing seats.

“We had a lot of fun rocking these cars and testing them,” said Layton.

Among the features that Layton’s team incorporated into the cars was the so-called Gemini system, which incorporates remote controls via electric motors and actuators. Layton said stuntmen can control cars wired or remotely up to 500 meters away. Auto Action Developments developed the system in collaboration with British company Shiftec, using Shiftec controllers and modules.

The control system was copied from game consoles, with force feedback for steering and brakes. Layton’s team could program the steering gears and brake pressures to suit the needs of different stunts, like handbrake turns, J-turns, or low or high speed maneuvers.

Operators could drive the cars remotely using several techniques. They could use a camera mounted on a head tracker in the driver’s seat and see those views from a distance. The operator could look right or left and see what a driver seated in the seat of the DB5 would see. These operators could use VR goggles, the line of sight of a support vehicle following them, or drive from a location in a boom lift above the star car. This system allows a film stunt coordinator to run over a car from a distance without endangering anyone.

Two of the DB5s served as pod cars, each with four bumps in the roof that mate with an outer cage in which a driver can sit with all the controls to drive the car from the roof. These controls operate either by a solid column passing through the A-pillar or by a fluid transfer pump.

The DB5 stars in a very memorable scene in which machine guns come out of the headlights and James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, mows down the bad guys by making donuts, spinning in the same spot. Craig’s stuntman, famous rally driver Mark Higgins, performed the stunt, and Layton’s team dialed the car to make it happen almost at will. The only trick was to use a hydraulic handbrake on the left front wheel to spin the car.

Layton said Craig could do the stunt too, but it wasn’t his job.

“He did his fair share (of driving) to be honest. We rehearse and test with Daniel before the shoot. So Daniel can go out and he can drift, and he can turn J, and he can make donuts, but obviously he has a lot more to offer than just cool driving, ”Layton said. “We let him do what he can do best, and then Mark and Lee (Morrison, the stunt coordinator) continued their work with our vehicles and they put on a great show.”

All the DB5s survived the shoot.

In addition to Bond’s DB5, we also see a 1974 Vantage V8 driven by Bond and his girlfriend Madeleine Swan, played by Lea Seydoux, with a look very close to the Ford Mustangs of the time; a new DBS Superleggera coupe as the car of choice for Bond’s successor as Agent 007, a woman named Nomi; and the Valhalla hypercar concept in a wind tunnel at MI6 headquarters.

Earlier in the chase scene that ends with machine gun fire, a pair of Jaguar XFs chase Bond through the ancient city of Matera, Italy. Layton’s team adjusted tire pressure, shock settings, and ride heights to help cars run on cobblestone streets, lose or gain traction, and handle descending steps. They also added hand brakes, roll bars and racing pedals to these cars to give stunt riders more control. Jaguar provided six XFs for the film.

Jaguar’s partner Land Rover also spends a lot of screen time, first with a vintage Land Rover Series III driven by Bond, and then in a two-part off-road car chase. The scene begins with two Range Rovers SVRs chasing Bond and Madeleine in an early 2000s Toyota Land Cruiser along a shore. Layton said six SVRs were used in the shoot, and two of them died in rollover accidents while trying to catch Bond.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aWxFMshOM4

Video released by Land Rover shows how the team filmed part of the chase using a specially equipped Ford F-150 camera truck with a large boom mounted on its roof. The video also shows how the crew performed the stunts, with ramps to send SVRs flying, stuntmen in helmets and full racing suits, and roll bars in vehicles to protect pilots. Morrison said the power and handling of the SVRs made them ideal chase cars, and Layton noted that all the stunts were real.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddPyqQkNRII

The chase then moves to fields and forest where a squadron of Land Rover Defenders stalks Bond. Layton said the film removed the top eight defenders from the line for use in filming. In the film, the Defenders cross a river, climb steep hills, and fly through the air in multiple jumps. Layton praised stuntwoman and W-Series pilot Jessica Hawkins, who performed numerous Defender stunts and served as Sedoux’s stand-in. In the forest, Bond outwits the Defender’s drivers one by one, crashing them in various ways. Eventually, he uses a crushed defender as a weapon against the villain’s main henchman.

Cars indeed play the roles of important characters.

“No Time To Die” hits theaters on October 8th. Find out with the car fan you love.