13 minute read
BOND XKR
DRIVE ANOTHER DAY
Two decades ago, a Jaguar XKR nearly stole the limelight from an Aston Martin in Die Another Day. We go behind the scenes to see what was involved in making this gadget-packed mobile weapon go dancing on ice
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WORDS: RICHARD GUNN PHOTOGRAPHY: KELSEY ARCHIVE & NATIONAL MOTOR MUSEUM
Twenty years ago, the 20th official James Bond movie, Die Another Day, was at cinemas across the world. Pierce Brosnan’s fourth (and, as it turned out, final) adventure as 007 saw him in a brand new Aston Martin for the first time; his previous outings had only included the classic DB5 thanks to a deal with BMW that dictated its saloons and sports cars would be the main star cars. But for Die Another Day, the German firm had departed, possibly smarting that all most people talked about anyway was the revival of the DB5 for the first time since Sean Connery’s day. BMW’s replacement was Ford, and the new kid on the block was keen to showcase its diverse range on the big screen. As the Blue Oval owned Aston Martin in 2002, when Die Another Day was released, that led to Aston Martin returning in a big way, with its flagship V12 Vanquish. But it also meant that Commander Bond’s gadget-laden Aston could have a worthy automotive adversary, courtesy of fellow Ford Premier Automotive Group member Jaguar, and an equally lethal XKR.
Few people would rank Die Another Day as among the best of the Bond series. There is a pattern with 007 films that they generally try and outdo what has gone before until they become so overblown that a reset is needed to restore some sort of believability. With Connery, it was You Only Live Twice, which saw Ernst Stavro Blofeld’s SPECTRE organisation headquartered in a hollowed-out Japanese volcano and 007 almost launching into space. For Roger Moore, it was Moonraker – in which Bond actually did go into space. Die Another Day was Brosnan’s over-extravagant opus. Despite a cast featuring Oscar-winners Halle Berry and Dame Judi Dench as M, plus helping launch the career of future Oscar-nominee Rosamund Pike, Die Another Day’s over-reliance on outlandish gadgets, dodgy special effects that might have been rejected for a PlayStation game, and Madonna (who both sung the substandard theme tune and made a cameo appearance) hasn’t aged well. As Roger Moore said, ‘I thought it went too far – and that’s from me, the first Bond in space! Invisible cars and dodgy CGI footage? Please!’
The ‘invisible car’ in question was the Aston Martin Vanish – sorry, Vanquish – which featured, among its tricks, adaptive camouflage; tiny body-mounted cameras which projected the image from one side onto a light-emitting polymer screen on the vehicle’s opposite side. While, theoretically, actual technology being developed by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency at the time, the concept of a ghostly Aston Martin was just a step too far for many; something
The Jaguar XK8 ready for action on the frozen lagoon of Vatnajokull.
that belonged more in the world of Harry Potter than James Bond.
Arguably though, the Vanquish’s sheer preposterousness made the Jaguar XKR that went into battle against it even more memorable, because it was far more in the mould of a traditional Bond car. It had some deadly modifications, but they were sufficiently ‘real world’ enough that they were credible… just about. If you could believe an Aston Martin DB5 could hide an ejector seat in 1964, then a Jaguar fitted with a hidden Gatling gun, battering ram, missiles and mortars nearly 40 years later wasn’t too much beyond the grounds of impossibility. Unlike invisibility.
In the film, the XKR was driven by the character Tang Ling Zao (Rick Yune), the North Korean chief henchman of the main villain Sir Gustav Graves (Toby Stephens). It is pitted against Bond’s Vanquish during the scenes in Iceland, with the two taking part in an explosive chase on a frozen lake. The Jaguar proves more than a match for the Aston; its thermal imaging is able to detect the Vanquish despite its cloaking abilities, with its Gatling gun capable of damaging the adaptive camouflage system sufficiently enough that Bond’s car is unable to successfully do its vanishing act. Both cars worked through their entire armouries before their tussle ended with the XKR crashing through some melted ice and Zao being, very literally, vanquished.
FROM ICELAND TO GLOUCESTERSHIRE
Finding a suitable location for the chase proved difficult. The production team checked out frozen lakes across the globe (or at least the very cold parts of it) but dismissed them because they were either covered with too much snow or the ice wasn’t thick enough; for safety’s sake, it had to be a minimum of 10 inches. Eventually, the beautiful Vatnajokull lagoon in Iceland was discovered and chosen. It was a stunning place, with deep blue, snow-free ice and the added visual bonus of icebergs being trapped in the frozen inlet creating a natural obstacle course. In addition, the somewhat less chilly location of RAF Little Rissington in Gloucestershire was also used for some of the sequence, dressed to look like Iceland with some areas of the runways painted white and a replica ice palace and ‘bergs built.
The production team had three weeks to film at Vatnajokull from the end of February 2002. The fact that it was
A promotional Jaguar poster for the XKR, trading on the car’s appearance in the Bond film.
Corgi’s already extensive range of 007 scale models was joined by the Jaguar XKR, complete with working gadgets.
the coldest winter in the region, with temperatures as low as -35 degrees Celsius, was just one of the many problems that had to be faced. Even the most competent drivers in the world would have struggle to keep control of two high performance rear-wheel drive sports cars on pure ice, especially given the precision needed for some of the »
Ideal for sunny and warm conditions, but the Die Another Day convertible XKR had to contend with ice, snow and temperatures well below freezing in Iceland.
stunts, so special effects supervisor Chris Corbould and second unit director Vic Armstrong approached Aston Martin and Jaguar to see if they had any fourwheel drive variants. Of course, being the days before 4x4 was so prevalent, neither company had anything, even in prototype form. There was some effort to see if the all-wheel drive format from the X-Type could be adapted, but it soon became obvious that it just wouldn’t fit. However, that didn’t mean that something couldn’t be specially built…
Four XKRs, finished in the same metallic green as Jaguar’s ill-fated Formula One machines of the era and sporting Dorchester Grey body kits, 20in Detroit alloy wheels and ‘OR 203’ Icelandic registration plates, were modified. Some sources claim that a standard paint finish was blended with pure gold, at a cost of nearly £2000 per litre, to create their livery. They were all former engineering development fleet examples, as the movie’s special effects crew teamed up with Jaguar’s Special Vehicles Operations department to work mechanical magic on their action heroes. The original supercharged 4.0litre AJ-V8 engines were replaced by 5.0-litre V8s from the Ford Explorer of the era, set as far back as possible in the engine bay for better balance and to create space for the front weaponry. The robust SUV also provided the running 4WD running gear, coupled to three-speed automatic transmissions that were geared to allow 120mph, some 35mph less than an unmodified XKR could achieve. But it was more than adequate for filming purposes and also allowed the cars to achieve feats such as ascend steps. Other crucial fitments were hydraulic handbrakes and Quaife torque-sensing differentials, which allowed a measure of controllable but visually exciting oversteer. It’s believed that one of the cars was fitted with a Mustang V8 instead of an Explorer engine, but information on this is sketchy. The alterations to the cars took around three months, with a Jaguar the first vehicle to be completed.
As well as also sporting the mechanical mods and special effects weapons systems, these action vehicles were also fitted with additional safety measures, in the form of hidden airbags installed in the boot and bonnet areas. If the worst happened, and a car went through the ice, the bags would automatically inflate and prevent it from sinking too quickly, hopefully allowing time for the driver to escape.
Inside, there was little attempt to disguise all the modifications done; the usually luxurious cabins were left quite rough and ready. For interior shots used on-screen as well as the less dramatic driving sequences, there were four cosmetically modified but otherwise generally standard models, also plucked from Jaguar’s engineering development fleet. Some had supercharged engines, some non-blown XK8 motors. One feature not available on ordinary XK8s
The Jaguar in action during Die Another Day, causing 007’s Aston Martin a little grief.
Four-wheel drive made the XKR (just about) manageable on ice at high speed.
The two automotive stars of Die Another Day pose at Vatnajokull.
was a central TV screen in place of the usual oil pressure gauge, clock and battery voltage gauges, bordered by buttons marked for thermal imaging, radar, mortars, mini gun, missiles and rams. This list of offensive options was a collaboration between the filmmakers and Jaguar, as both wanted the XKR to do slightly different things. The resultant on-screen machines were something of a compromise. But a very deadly and impressive one.
GRUELLING AND FREEZING
The very cold and changeable weather in Iceland made what was already a challenging job even tougher to achieve. It was a gruelling location. Temporary workshops were set up at Vatnajokull, using tents and containers. One of the tents was blown away before the cars even arrived from England. Despite the facilities being heated, the temperatures often struggled to get above zero. This led to frozen batteries, brakes that iced up, sluggish gearboxes and tyres that stuck to the floor. Just getting the cars out of the workshops was sometimes tricky enough, let alone getting them to perform any stunts. Trucks bringing equipment to the shoot from Reykjavik had to contend with appalling conditions on what was usually a four- or five-hour trip from the Icelandic capital, with three blown off the road en route. But eventually, the weather cleared enough to allow filming to properly get underway. The stunt driver of the Aston Martin was Ray de Haan, while behind the wheel of the Jaguar was George Cottle. He undoubtedly had the more demanding time of things; at least the Vanquish had a nice warm enclosed cabin while the XKR was an open convertible and about as inappropriate as possible for such a frigid environment. Unless being driven by evil henchman disfigured with diamonds embedded in his face, hellbent on killing James Bond, that is.
“The key element we need here is the fact that it’s ice”, said second unit director Vic Armstrong when discussing the filming. “I’m paranoid about making the audience realise that it is an ice
The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust’s XKR is a popular and frequent show and event vehicle.
lake, so we’ve made all the moves in the chase ice orientated. In other words, they’ve got big spins and slides in them”. Remarkably, given the risks involved, there were two weeks of almost trouble-free shooting before the first major accident occurred. It happened to one of the Aston Martins rather than a Jaguar. Trying to go sideways through a tight gap between two icebergs, the Vanquish hit one and then spun into the other, effectively destroying the vehicle more effectively than any Jaguar weaponry. The XKR, following closely behind, emerged unscathed.
By necessity, the more dangerous »
The Jaguar’s armament included missiles behind the sliding grille, alongside some hydraulic battering rams.
Inside a cosmetically modified XKR. From this angle, only the centre TV screen, with some intriguingly-marked buttons, suggested the car was something out of the ordinary. An M134 minigun was the XKR’s most prominent weapon, which rose from under a cover behind the seats when called upon.
stunts had to be filmed back in England, at RAF Little Rissington as well as Pinewood Studios and other locations. On-screen, one third of the chase took place inside the melting ice palace, which resulted in thousands of gallons of water being dumped on the cars. Again, the driver of the XKR got the short end of the straw, with no roof for protection. The Jaguar’s electronics did well to survive the torrent.
In the finished film, the Iceland car chase occupied just eight minutes of the film’s two hours and 13 minutes runtime. But it was a stand-out sequence and one that resulted in as much good marketing for Jaguar as for Aston Martin. The XKR and the Vanquish were equally matched in the film, and while it was inevitable that 007 would get the upper hand, the Jaguar gave just as good as it got. It’s memorable for all the right reasons, whereas the Vanquish is chiefly remembered for going a little too far with its invisibility gimmick. Besides, it had lots of Aston Martin competition from past and future Bond movies to overshadow it, while the only other major appearance of a Jaguar in a 007 adventure, (aside from as an incidental vehicle, see CJ Aug/Sept 2021 for the full story), wasn’t until Spectre in 2015. And the hybrid-electric C-X75 that pursued Bond through Rome in that was, like the Aston Martin DB10 it was after, not a car that could be bought, having been cancelled before limited production was supposed to begin in 2012.
Post-Die Another Day, the XKR has continued to provide valuable publicity for Jaguar. It has been turned into models, most notably by Corgi, who continued its trend of miniature gadgets on its Bond cars by incorporating the concealed Gatling gun. Carrera also made a slot racing version and there have been remote control variants as well. As for the actual movie cars, the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust has one of the cosmetically dressed examples, now road-registered S441 DNH. Its last outing notable outing was during the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant in June 2022, where it was seen by over 13 million people on British TV, and many, many more across the planet. A second car is on permanent display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, as part of its On-Screen Cars exhibition. The Dezer Museum in Orlando, Florida, USA, also has an example as part of what it claims is the world’s largest collection of 007 cars, aircraft and memorabilia while a fourth forms part of the globe-touring Bond in Motion exhibition, which recently opened at the Brussels Expo in Belgium.
While Die Another Day may not be retrospectively regarded as one of the better 007 celluloid adventures, it was successful enough when released two decades ago, with its $431.9 million worldwide box office making it the highest grossing Bond film ever at the time. And a Ferrari F355 GTS and Lamborghini Diablo get pushed out of a plane at the end, so it’s not all bad. If nothing else, Die Another Day proved that a Jaguar could be every bit as awe-inspiring and lethal as an Aston Martin. But readers of Classic Jaguar probably knew that anyway… ■
This Jaguar XKR is now part of the collection at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.
The XKR’s boot featured an array of mortars. The scratches just visible on the bootlid here were from camera mountings.
The National Motor Museum’s Die Another Day XKR is on display in its On-Screen Cars exhibition at Beaulieu. It’s next to the Harry Potter Ford Anglia, which made a rather more convincing job of invisibility than 007’s Aston Martin Vanquish.
