Not since the XK120 have I had this many women approach me and ask me what kind of car the DBS is and how much it costs

ONe of the advantages of having a talk show is that you get to meet famous people like Daniel Craig. The other advantage, and some of us may say it is the greater of the two, is that sometimes companies like Aston Martin ask me: ‘Would you like to borrow James Bond’s car for a few days?’

I was never been a big fan of the models Aston made in the 1970s and early 1980s with the V8 engines in them. I thought they were extremely well-made but, much as they used to say about Rolls-Royce, they seemed to be a triumph of build quality over engineering. They never seemed to have anything particularly new, just the classic body-on-frame, extremely powerful V8, leather interior, Connolly hides and wool headlining.

So when the opportunity to drive the new DBS came along I said ‘OK, why not?’, thinking I was going to get into some variation of the old car. I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was stunned by how technically superior the car is – a lot of carbonfibre, a lot of aluminium.

The engine layout is closer to a mid-engined car’s, like the SLR, because the transaxle allows the engine to sit back a little. In the back of my mind, like a lot of people, I thought the engine had some connection with Ford because Ford had bought the company and literally saved it at one point. I realise now the engine is made in Cologne specifically for Aston Martin and it comes with a proper gearbox.  

I give Aston great kudos for putting in a proper six-speed manual transmission. There are people who still like to drive. It’s like playing chess. I’d much rather play against someone than play against the computer. I realise if I use the computer it will win every time. It’s the same with a manual gearbox: I understand the paddle shifters and double-clutch semi-automatic are much faster and more fuel-efficient but they are just not as much fun.

 To me that says they’re trying to build the proper driver’s car.  

I love the fact that the traction control is in three settings. You have the standard setting and then the competition setting and then you can turn it off. And turning it off was great fun.

Actually, we shot a piece about it for the show. I drove it down a dead-end street, 30 feet wide, stepped on the brake, spun the wheel then hit the gas, and I was able to spin that thing five times in its own axis without hitting any of the other cars on either side of the road. There’s not a lot of cars you can do that with.

At NBC I always like to park something unusual at work, and sometimes people comment, sometimes they don’t. I was astounded by the amount of women that said: ‘What is that? That’s the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen!’ Not since the XK120 Coupe have I had this many women approach me and ask me what kind of car it is and how much it costs.   

These days there’s a tendency to think everybody has to have a car that can do the Nürburgring in 7min 26sec. That’s great if you just do the Nürburgring but it’s also nice to have a car that is comfortable to drive and handles on the road. This is a GT car that thinks it’s a sports car. It’s extremely comfortable and you could go across country in it if you liked.

The reason I don’t have an Aston Martin in my garage is the same reason I don’t have a Toyota 2000GT. Fifteen years ago I started looking at a Toyota GT and it was ,000, and I thought ‘That’s a high price’, but then I did some more thinking and I decided I’m gonna buy this for 80. But no, it’s 120 now, so I’ll wait until they come back down to 80, and then I look again the next year and it’s gone up to 150! Okay I’ll buy it at 150 – oh, they’re 250 now! And that’s sort of what happened with me and Astons.

The same week I borrowed the DBS, Daniel Craig was on the show. He liked the DBS and Aston does seem to suit the Bond character. During the ’80s, when Bond turned up in a BMW, I thought, ‘Oh, please, just stop!’ It was like a cut-rate version – Tesco Bond. For me, James Bond in a BMW just looked ridiculous.

I’ve got a ZR1 Corvette and it handles and drives beautifully. I’ve got a McLaren F1, I’ve got a Porsche Carrera. So I don’t need another car like this – but then again, maybe I do…