What no one realised at the time is that underneath, the DB10 was actually a next-generation Vantage, shown on screen in its bespoke clothing more than two years before being shown to the public.

Aston Martin built 10 DB10s, keeping a couple of them. One was sold into private ownership for a whopping £2.4 million, far exceeding the £1.5 estimate, despite the fact it wasn’t road legal. 

The first Bond film had a budget of less than £1m, so there was no gadget-laden Q Branch special for Sean Connery. In fact, when he arrives in Jamaica on the trail of Dr No, 007 has to settle for a rented Sunbeam Alpine.

Powered by a wheezy 80bhp 1.6-litre engine and featuring the same underpinnings as the humble Hillman Husky estate, the two-seater has barely enough puff to outrun the thirties LaSalle hearse driven by Dr No’s mysterious henchmen, the Three Blind Mice.

Fortunately, the Alpine’s nimble handling and low height save the day, allowing Bond to slip under a large crane blocking his path. The LaSalle and its occupants meet an explosive end after plunging off a cliff.

While manufacturers provided free cars in exchange for screen time in later films, Dr No’s producers had to borrow the Alpine from a local. Still, in Ian Fleming’s novel, 007 drove an even less alluring Hillman Minx saloon.

Aston Martin DBS, Casino Royale (2006)/Quantum Of Solace (2008)

For the 2006 relaunch of the franchise, Bond ditched all of the gadgets and far-fetched plotlines for something far grittier and more realistic. But Aston Martin remained the car manufacturer of choice.