James Bond has had a bevy of sidekicks, but none sexier than the bulletproof and ejector-seated machines that have helped helped him save the day.
Motoring
Former James Bond Aston Martin DBS stars on Melbourne streets
How did a classic sport car from a James Bond movie end up becoming one Melburnian’s pride and joy? Sigi Zidziunas reveals the story behind his original Aston Martin DBS.
As a teenager growing up in Surrey Hills in Melbourne, Sigi Zidziunas and his friends were self-described “petrol heads”.
They loved driving around the ‘burbs and tinkering with engines, carburettors and exhaust pipes to upgrade whatever car they could afford.
“One of our group’s fathers owned the local mechanical garage, so I used to put my engine in a wheelbarrow and walk it up the street to his workshop to work on it,” he says. “I learnt how to spray paint cars and I painted my old Triumph British racing green. We used to call it the Green Turtle because I couldn’t keep up with the traffic.”
Zidziunas has had many cars since, but his 1968 Aston Martin DBS, which was on display in the foyer at RACV Healesville Country Club & Resort, is his pride and joy.
The car was used in the 1969 James Bond movie (a movie franchise famous for its featured cars and Aston Martin vehicles), On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which starred George Lazenby as Bond, Diana Rigg as Bond’s love interest and Telly Savalas as the villain.
Zidziunas says the olive-green coupe was used for the exterior shots in the movie, while another car was used for interior footage.
The most common question he gets asked is: How did you get it? His story begins in 1978 with a car yard in Glen Huntly that was advertising an Aston Martin DBS vantage, said to have been driven by Australian actor George Lazenby as 007.
“It was advertised in the paper as an ex-film car, but I didn’t believe it, I bought it because it was an Aston,” Zidziunas says.
The car cost $14,200, which was a considerable amount, given the average house in Melbourne cost around $37,000 at the time.
Zidziunas used it as an “everyday car” for six years, driving his kids to school, doing the shopping and going to work. When his business partner accidently ran into the back of it – and he discovered some rust in the sills – he decided to restore it.
The car, complete with weaponry in the glove box, was used in the 1969 James Bond movie. Image: Matt Harvey
“Over the next 20 years I pulled the car apart in the workshop, back to basic metal. I replaced any nuts and bolts, pulled the engine out, had that all redone. One thing to lead to another and it ended up being a total restoration job,” he says. It was his father who gave him an ultimatum to complete the project.
“He was getting on in years and said: ‘Here’s some money – just fix it; I want to have a ride in it before I die.’ He passed away at 98, but he got to experience it.”
Zidziunas says the car is an “old-world drive”, with a hard clutch and heavy steering, but he loves driving it.
“This car has opened many, many doors for me,” Zidziunas says. For one, I’ve met George Lazenby four times, and the car has been in shows and exhibitions, including Spyfest twice in Goldburn, where George was born.”
The classic Aston Martin was displayed at RACV Healesville Country Club & Resort. Image: Matt Harvey
He met the Bond actor for a fifth time when his car went on display at The Arts Centre in Melbourne for The Music of James Bond with George Lazenby concert on 17 September 2022.
“I love showing it off. It’s my pride and joy. I love it when some kid is ogling it and saying, ‘What’s this?’ I’ll open the door, say, ‘Jump in,’ and you should see the smile on their face. My enjoyment is seeing other people’s enjoyment.”
Zidziunas has only one regret.
"When I was pulling some panels from underneath the car a whole pile of beach sand fell on me," he says. "In the opening scenes of the movie Bond is chasing Diana in the car on a beach in Portugal. That sand would have been the sand from that beach. I swept it up and threw it in the bin. I would have love to have kept it."
