A flying Aston Martin might be James Bond’s next vehicle of choice

The Aston Martin Volante
Vision Concept.
Aston
Martin

• Aston Martin recently unveiled a flying car
  concept.
• The Volante Vision Concept is autonomous,
  hybrid-electric, and capable of vertical take-off and
  landing.
• Aston Martin President and CEO Dr Andy Palmer said that
  growing urbanisation and overpopulation was at the heart of the
  concept’s design.
• Aston Martin said it did not have pricing for the
  vehicle yet, but the figure is expected to be around £7 million
  ($9.2 million).
• Speaking to Business Insider, an Aston Martin
  spokesperson teased a possible appearance in a James Bond film
  one day.

Aston Martin is entering the race to the skies.

The British luxury car manufacturer unveiled an autonomous,
hybrid-electric, personal aircraft concept at
the 2018 Farnborough Air Show — and it hinited that the
flying car might soon be the vehicle of choice for James Bond.

The Volante Vision Concept is capable of vertical take-off and
landing and features plenty of high-spec details that the Aston
Martin brand is famous for.

Aston Martin

The Volante, which is named after the Italian word for “flying,”
was produced in partnership with Cranfield University and is
powered by Rolls-Royce with the aim of bringing “luxury personal
transportation to the sky.”

A spokesperson for Aston Martin told Business Insider that there
was no exact pricing for the vehicle yet, but the figure is
expected to be around £7 million ($9.2 million).

Buyers will have some time to wait, though. The spokesperson said
that the company is currently conducting customer research and
analysing feedback — “should it go into production, it will be
around the mid-2020s.”

Aston Martin

Aston Martin President and CEO Dr Andy Palmer said that growing
urbanisation and overpopulation was at the heart of the concept’s
design: “We need to look at alternative solutions to reduce
congestion, cut pollution and improve mobility,” he said.

“Humans have always spent on average, one hour commuting to and
from work. The distance we live from our workplace has been
determined by the methods of transportation available.

He went on: “The Volante Vision Concept will enable us to travel
further with our hourly commute, meaning we are able to live
further away from where we work. Cities will grow, and towns that
are today too far away from cities to be commutable will become
suburban.”

Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer Marek Reichman said
we are at “the beginning of a new generation of urban
transportation.

“Vertical mobility is no longer a fantasy,” he said. “We have a
unique chance to create a luxury concept aircraft that will
represent the ultimate fusion of art and technology.”

Although the Volante is designed with an autonomous future in
mind, Aston Martin aims to keep the driving experience at the
centre of its craft.

“True to our DNA, the VVC is very much a vehicle that could be
fun and engaging to ‘drive,'” the brand’s spokesperson said.

A long-standing relationship with 007

More importantly, though, when asked about whether we could see
James Bond flying one of the cars soon, the spokesperson said:
“We have a long-standing and special relationship with EON [the
production company behind the James Bond films] and we hope to
work together again in the future.”

If that’s not enough to get martinis shaking in anticipation,
then we don’t know what is.