Photo: Aston Martin - Strictly Copyright

Aston Martin today announced via their official website that James Bond will drive a new model called the Aston Martin DBS in Casino Royale. Back in February 2004, Aston Martin chief designer Henrik Fisker had claimed that Bond was going to drive an Vantage V8 in what was then called Bond 21.

Daniel Craig, the new Bond actor, visited the Aston Martin headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, on Friday last week to view the featured car. While there he met Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ulrich Bez, and members of the workforce and also took the opportunity to take a short test drive.

The official Aston Martin website says: "In the true tradition of Bond, full details of the car to be used in Casino Royale are being kept top secret but the company did confirm that it would be a new model called the Aston Martin DBS."

Dr Ulrich Bez said: "It is great news that Bond will drive an Aston Martin again and we have built him something special to enable him to do his job in style."

On a side note; this definately rules out all the rumours about a period piece, which are still floating around on websites and discussion forums. Although the involvement of Aston Martin now is official, it is still not known if and what part the Fiat Panda is going to play in the movie.

Casino Royale is the 21st James Bond film produced by franchise holders Eon Productions. The MGM/Columbia Pictures production begins shooting in January and is due for release worldwide on 17 November 2006. Starring Daniel Craig as James Bond, it will be filmed in the Czech Republic, the Bahamas, Italy and the UK.

Discuss this news in this thread on the CBn Forums, the largest James Bond forum on the internet. Thanks to our forum member zencat for the tip-off!