The Astie is gone! THE ASTIE IS GONE!!!

[KansDem]

Driver of James Bond's Aston Martin cheated death in dramatic crash
By Nick Pisa
Last Updated: 2:18pm BST 21/04/2008

The driver of James Bond's Aston Martin DBS which plunged into an Italian lake during filming yesterday described how he cheated death just like the hero spy.

Fraser Dunn, 29, was at the wheel of the £134,000 car when it skidded off the road and plunged into the icy waters at high speed.

Although the Aston Martin was recovered it is completely irreparable

He was left shaken but not stirred despite being knocked unconscious by the impact and when he came to the car was at the bottom of the lake - at a depth of more than 150ft.

Mr Dunn, who is an Aston Martin engineer and not a stuntman, suffered only minor injuries and was able to kick his way out of the car and swim to the surface - just like Her Majesty's favourite secret agent.

Telegraph



DAMN!!! I grew up with that car! Even when we were too young to drive, my friends and I talked about getting Schwinn "Sting Ray" bicycles in silver with black banana seats.
:(

[raebrek]

1. Okay, I have to ask

If he was knocked unconscious why didn't he "NOT wake up" at the bottom of the lake?

Raebrek!!!

Edited for clarity.

[DS1]

3. and why no bends on the way back up in such a short time?

[MuseRider]

9. Would you get the bends

from 150 feet without breathing pressurized O2? I dunno, I dive but never without a tank. :shrug: I don't know how free divers do it.

[DS1]

13. I don't know either. I don't know how long you have to be deep before it becomes an issue going back

up. All I know is that 150 that fast, while unconscious and not pressurizing my ear drums would blow them out at about 20 feet. Mine are weak like that.

[MuseRider]

29. Obviously

I am the wrong one to talk to! I can't believe after diving for 25 years I totally blew that first answer to you! Ah well, my mind was elsewhere.

My ears would be a mess too but I would think that my overriding concern with dying would make that seem pretty insignificant. Yikes. I have been without air underwater before, not at that depth but there is nothing worse for me. Thankfully my buddy was not too far away.

[MercutioATC]

15. Divers don't breathe pressurized O2...they breathe air.

(well, unless they're breathing a special mix)

It's just air compressed into a tank so more of it fits. The regulator a diver breathes through releases that air at a pretty neutral pressure...it's pretty much just like breathing on land.

[MuseRider]

28. Yup I missed that one entirely!

I am not sure what I was thinking. Thanks. D'oh!

[MercutioATC]

30. Actually, depending on how you look at it, the air IS kinda "pressurized"...

...in that, when you're breathing it at depth, the ambient pressure is greater than on the surface...and, so, the air is also at greater pressure.

Marr said it well. As long as you don't take a breath at depth, there's no danger of an air embolism during a fast ascent (one could also just exhale all the way up if one had taken a breath at depth).

As far as the bends, that has to do with nitrogen loading in the blood. Recreational dive tables only go to 130' (the maximum approved depth for recreational diving), but I'd estimate that he'd have to be at 150' for 3-4 minutes to make nitrogen loading an issue...and recreational dive tables are very conservative.

[MercutioATC]

14. No bends because he wasn't down there long enough (I'm a diver)

The bends is caused by nitrogen gas in your bloodstream being forced into muscle tissue and joints from rapid decompression. If you're not underwater (under pressure) long, nitrogen hasn't started loading into your bloodstream, so there's really none to worry about when you come back to the surface. There are divers who set records diving to hundreds of feet with no air...they take a weighted sled down and then inflate balloons on the sled and shoot back to the surface.

[Elidor]

32. There was a beautiful movie about those divers

The Big Blue. Underrated flick.

[MercutioATC]

33. Haven't seen it...I'll have to pick it up. I was thinking more of Audrey Mestre.

Amazing free-diver....just made a bad choice in husbands...

[hootinholler]

19. Because the nitrogen inhaled was not under pressure...

Free divers have no fear of bends because they breath air at surface pressure and then descend. If the air you inhale is pressurized then nitrogen can be absorbed into the blood stream and boils off as the pressure on the body is released. As a poor analogy, but I can't think of another one: Fill a balloon at the surface and take it down in the water, the balloon gets smaller due to compression but will not pop when brought back to the surface. Inflate a balloon at depth with compressed air and it will pop as it ascends.

It also takes time for the nitrogen to be absorbed, thus the concept of 'bottom time' in diving. Bottom time and depth determine the length and depth of decompression stops during an ascent.

-Hoot

[Marr]

21. If you don't breathe at depth, you won't have pressure issues.

Free divers go down a lot further than 150 ft, and they can shoot back up like a cork with no problem.

*edit*-- Haha, I did that thing where you get the same message over and over because I didn't read the other responses first.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

4. My first thought when I read the article. If he was knocked unconscious, he should be

swimming with the fishes now.

[MercutioATC]

16. 2 words...."icy water"

It's amazing what cold water can do to wake you up...

[DS1]

2. Something about this stinks. However, look how flimsy those barriers are.

[raebrek]

5. Look how it is crushed.

How did the driver get out with a head that was not smushed?

Raebrek!!!

[DS1]

11. Indeed. This sounds like another fabricated car crash a la "Redline"

[Ganja Ninja]

6. I believe you're thinking of the old Aston Martin DB.

Aston Martin DB


This is the DBS.

[KansDem]

12. Yes! Silver with black interior

:(

on edit: Wait! I see what you're saying. This was the new Aston Martin, not the classic one!

whew!

[KansDem]

18. Thanks for the clarification!

Yes, I was thinking of the DB, the one used in Goldfinger...

Thanks for clearing this up! :hi:

[flvegan]

7. Shame. Beautiful car.

http://image.automobilemag.com/f/features/news/6684823/0606_z+2006_aston_martin_dbs_james_bond+front_2.jpg

Glad nobody was hurt. Fishy (pardon the pun) story, though. 150 ft?

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

8. The driver was an Aston Martin engineer?

Demoted to crash-test-dummy. He's got a lot of 'splainin' to do.

Meanwhile, I'm sure another Aston Martin is on its way to the set.

[MadHound]

10. Well all that means is that this hunk of junk will now be on the market

Perhaps on Ebay, but more likely at someplace like Sotheby's.

[flvegan]

17. Another shot for GREAT perspective. Whoa.

Another article. Says it was the only one, too.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/04/20/wbond120.xml

[DS1]

20. Ok, even more BS. Quickly rescued by firemen?

The world's fastest firemen?

[flvegan]

22. In frogmen outfits, I'm sure.

[Marr]

23. If they were shooting, they would've had a safety team on site. n/t

[DS1]

24. It said they were simply driving it to the next shoot

not actually filming anything.

A stunt driver was on his way to deliver the £120,000 sportscar to the set of Quantum of Solace when he drove off a narrow bend in heavy rain, producers said.

[flvegan]

25. You'd think they'd trailer it in a semi.

I mean, it's the only one.

[DS1]

26. according this article

the other one posted said it was one of five. A new one of these is a drop in a the hat for such a big-budget flick, and I'm sure they get 'huuuuge' discounts from the manufacturer just to have their car in the flick. If not, outright free cars.

[MercutioATC]

27. The other article said that it's one of five.

The articles seem to have a lot of conflicting info...

[jammyboyjim]

35. just to dispel the conspiracy theories

coming from someone who works at aston I can confirm that this was a genuine accident - aston certainly wishes it weren't. Fraser has a whole lot of explaining to do when he gets back, including exactly why he's been speaking to the press. Also, just to clarify, there were no divers waiting for him at the surface - he was being followed by a colleague (driving slowly) who alerted the police / emergency services - the car was recovered by divers later.
Again, another point: there are 5 cars supporting the movie on site in Italy - however this car was the the close up car used for detailed shots - the remainder are for stunts / distance filming.

[flvegan]

36. Thanks for chiming in, and Welcome to DU.

Can you shed any light on WHY the car (1 of 5) was even being driven? Would seem the close up car would be the one that you'd not want any nicks in the paint, right?

[jammyboyjim]

37. Cheers..

Sorry, didn't make it clear. The car was planned for use with in-cabin close-ups (you'll notice the outriggers fitted to the car - these aren't barriers or lifting bars as a consequence of the crash - these are for carrying the camera's). The interior of this car would be production intent (full trim) - the other cars would be stripped out, fitted with roll cages etc, dependant upon use.

[jmowreader]

38. Why wouldn't they have trailered the car in?

If this was my ONE car with a stock interior, I'd have transported it in a covered trailer--something like the Featherlites they use for transporting race cars. I can't really see any benefit, and I CAN see great risks, to driving the car outside of the production.

[Bake]

31. The whole thing was staged; they just wanted to use the line "shaken, not stirred."

:rofl:

Bake

[Canuckistanian]

39. Imagine my surprise when they used that line

It was totally out of left field, "as you Americans say".

[uppityperson]

34. One more picture, from the top. He was very lucky.