Aston Martin V8 Vantage Series III

The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Series III is featured in The Living Daylights (1987). Advances in engine technology helped evolve the look of the Aston Martin V8, which is the version showcased in this Bond film. Fuel injection replaced carburetion when the series debuted in 1986. The new technology was more compact, freeing the car designers to make changes they couldn't make before. Gone is the "power bulge" needed in the hood of previous models. The V8 sports a flat bonnet.

Bond actually drives two Aston Martins in this film, though they are supposed to be the same car. At the beginning of the film, the car is a V8 Vantage Volante (convertible), complete with Vantage badges. The actual car used in these scenes was a preproduction Vantage Volante owned by Aston Martin Lagonda chairman, Victor Gauntlett. Later, the car is supposedly fitted with a hardtop "winterised" by Q-Branch. However, these scenes actually feature a pair of non-Vantage V8 saloons retrofitted with the same number plate and Vantage badges as the car in the beginning.

The number on the license plate of Bond's Aston Martin V8 Vantage is "B549 WUU".