Post by Ace on Jan 11, 2004 23:14:54 GMT -5
DRIVING
My Life, My Aston Martin
By JOHN J. JACAMAN
Published: January 9, 2004
Matt Rourke for The New York Times
BOND BONDING John J. and Danielle Jacaman with his Aston Martin. He says he has coveted the nameplate since he began watching the "007" films.
John J. Jacaman, 46, real estate developer and private equity investor, Dallas
WHAT 2003 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
I've wanted an Aston Martin since I was a kid, and I have James Bond to blame. Growing up in Laredo, I used to watch the old Bond movies on TV.
In "Goldfinger," that famous silver DB5 was just as cool as Sean Connery. Not only was it incredibly stylish, it had all those nifty spy gizmos, like a bulletproof shield, machine guns and a passenger-side ejector seat. It's a boy thing, I guess. You see James Bond, and you want to be just like him. And the Aston became the cool car to have.
At 16, I saw a photo of the Aston Martin Vantage on the cover of a car magazine. I swore that when I got old enough and, hopefully wealthy enough, I'd get one.
The actors who played Bond changed over the years, and so did their wheels. Roger Moore was a Lotus guy, but in 1987's "The Living Daylights," Timothy Dalton drove a version of the same Vantage I'd seen on the magazine cover as a teenager. Like in most Bond movies, the car ends up totaled, which broke my heart — not to mention Q's.
Introduced in 2001, the Vanquish is what they call a supercar: superfast, supersexy and superexpensive. Ford owns the company, but an Aston is a different breed of automobile. Its exclusivity appealed to me — the factory in England produces an average of 500Vanquishes a year, each one built by hand, one at a time.
When I ordered mine, I had no idea the car would star in the latest Bond movie, "Die Another Day"; after all, it took me three years to get it. In late 1999, after seeing a photo of the Vanquish concept car in a magazine, I put a deposit down on one, even though I didn't know if they were going to make it. That year, Ford green lighted the production model. Then, in the summer of 2002, I saw a trailer for "Die Another Day" on the Internet. I couldn't believe it: There was Pierce Brosnan behind the wheel of a Vanquish the color of liquid mercury. Aston Martin will paint your car any color you like, so my salesman at John Eagle Aston Martin asked if they would paint mine that color. They said "of course."
My Vanquish arrived in November 2002, on the day the movie opened. When I went to see it, I left my new baby at home because I didn't want to park it in the lot. In one scene, the movie version out duels the villains' high-tech Jaguar on an icy lake, machine guns blazing. Not only that, the Bond Vanquish could completely vanish — sort of like my everyday worries whenever I drive my own, unless I'm in heavy traffic and worried about someone hitting me.
Drive a Vanquish once, and you're hooked. The sound of the engine is intoxicating; I smile every time I hear it. It sounds like a racecar: very guttural, very gritty. When you shift gears at high speed, it almost barks. And it handles like no other car; so smooth and secure that it feels as if the car is glued to the road. The Vanquish doesn't have rocket launchers, but it has pretty much everything else, like Formula One-style paddles on either side of the steering wheel. If you get a phone call in midshift, you press a button and the car switches to automatic mode. When you're done with your call, you can go back to the paddles.
And the Vanquish looks like nothing else. Even though it's a two-seater, it's a big car: imposing, powerful and sleek, yet not flashy. It's a real head-turner. About eight months ago, my wife and I took a trip up Highway 1 from Los Angeles to the California wine country. We'd stop to eat in small towns along the way, and we'd come out to find people crowded around the car, asking questions and wanting to see the interior.
My wife thinks I'm crazy because I waited the longest time for this car, and now I only take it out on weekends and nice days. She says, "Why don't you drive it as much as you can?" I have to admit my love for the car is more visceral than rational. Sometimes I go out to the garage with a glass of wine and just look at it. You could say we've bonded.
As told to Dana White.
========================================
Well if I paid that much for a car I'd probably spend quiet moments in the garage with it as well.
Of course PB (who gets his cars for free) has a completely different philosophy, to paraphrase... you own the car not the other way around and if you're afraid to drive it don't own it.
Ace
My Life, My Aston Martin
By JOHN J. JACAMAN
Published: January 9, 2004
Matt Rourke for The New York Times
BOND BONDING John J. and Danielle Jacaman with his Aston Martin. He says he has coveted the nameplate since he began watching the "007" films.
John J. Jacaman, 46, real estate developer and private equity investor, Dallas
WHAT 2003 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
I've wanted an Aston Martin since I was a kid, and I have James Bond to blame. Growing up in Laredo, I used to watch the old Bond movies on TV.
In "Goldfinger," that famous silver DB5 was just as cool as Sean Connery. Not only was it incredibly stylish, it had all those nifty spy gizmos, like a bulletproof shield, machine guns and a passenger-side ejector seat. It's a boy thing, I guess. You see James Bond, and you want to be just like him. And the Aston became the cool car to have.
At 16, I saw a photo of the Aston Martin Vantage on the cover of a car magazine. I swore that when I got old enough and, hopefully wealthy enough, I'd get one.
The actors who played Bond changed over the years, and so did their wheels. Roger Moore was a Lotus guy, but in 1987's "The Living Daylights," Timothy Dalton drove a version of the same Vantage I'd seen on the magazine cover as a teenager. Like in most Bond movies, the car ends up totaled, which broke my heart — not to mention Q's.
Introduced in 2001, the Vanquish is what they call a supercar: superfast, supersexy and superexpensive. Ford owns the company, but an Aston is a different breed of automobile. Its exclusivity appealed to me — the factory in England produces an average of 500Vanquishes a year, each one built by hand, one at a time.
When I ordered mine, I had no idea the car would star in the latest Bond movie, "Die Another Day"; after all, it took me three years to get it. In late 1999, after seeing a photo of the Vanquish concept car in a magazine, I put a deposit down on one, even though I didn't know if they were going to make it. That year, Ford green lighted the production model. Then, in the summer of 2002, I saw a trailer for "Die Another Day" on the Internet. I couldn't believe it: There was Pierce Brosnan behind the wheel of a Vanquish the color of liquid mercury. Aston Martin will paint your car any color you like, so my salesman at John Eagle Aston Martin asked if they would paint mine that color. They said "of course."
My Vanquish arrived in November 2002, on the day the movie opened. When I went to see it, I left my new baby at home because I didn't want to park it in the lot. In one scene, the movie version out duels the villains' high-tech Jaguar on an icy lake, machine guns blazing. Not only that, the Bond Vanquish could completely vanish — sort of like my everyday worries whenever I drive my own, unless I'm in heavy traffic and worried about someone hitting me.
Drive a Vanquish once, and you're hooked. The sound of the engine is intoxicating; I smile every time I hear it. It sounds like a racecar: very guttural, very gritty. When you shift gears at high speed, it almost barks. And it handles like no other car; so smooth and secure that it feels as if the car is glued to the road. The Vanquish doesn't have rocket launchers, but it has pretty much everything else, like Formula One-style paddles on either side of the steering wheel. If you get a phone call in midshift, you press a button and the car switches to automatic mode. When you're done with your call, you can go back to the paddles.
And the Vanquish looks like nothing else. Even though it's a two-seater, it's a big car: imposing, powerful and sleek, yet not flashy. It's a real head-turner. About eight months ago, my wife and I took a trip up Highway 1 from Los Angeles to the California wine country. We'd stop to eat in small towns along the way, and we'd come out to find people crowded around the car, asking questions and wanting to see the interior.
My wife thinks I'm crazy because I waited the longest time for this car, and now I only take it out on weekends and nice days. She says, "Why don't you drive it as much as you can?" I have to admit my love for the car is more visceral than rational. Sometimes I go out to the garage with a glass of wine and just look at it. You could say we've bonded.
As told to Dana White.
========================================
Well if I paid that much for a car I'd probably spend quiet moments in the garage with it as well.
Of course PB (who gets his cars for free) has a completely different philosophy, to paraphrase... you own the car not the other way around and if you're afraid to drive it don't own it.
Ace
