New car news

21 August 2008 - 11:00

Casio Royale

It's tricky to talk about the Aston DBS without bringing up a certain Mr Bond. But when Aston do stuff like this, who's to blame, really?

The company that's too cool for the Cool Wall has revealed this, the AMVOX2 DBS Transponder. Hardly the catchiest name, but it's a gadget that could have come straight out of Q's workshop.

It has been developed with Aston's official watch maker, Jaeger-LeCoultre. And it isn't just a showy timepiece designed to let owners casually flash their wealth at people (although obviously it does that too).

Press the button marked 'open' - between numbers eight and nine - and your lovely V12 supercar will unlock. Press ‘close’ - between three and four - and it’ll, erm, lock again.

Unsurprisingly, it's only available to DBS owners (so no linking it up to your one-litre Corsa) and costs a staggering £22,000. It can be added as an option to newly ordered cars, or retro-fitted to those already on the road.

The transponder that takes care of all the arduous locking and unlocking as you show off to anyone who'll watch weighs just a few grams, and is half the size of the unit in the Emotional Control Unit (read: key) that comes standard on the DBS.

Tuxedoed secret agents would doubtless approve.