Car thieves `vanish` with Aston Martin V12 Vanquish

A luxury sports car favoured by movie super-spy James Bond left police for dust when a patrol spotted it on Auckland's North Shore yesterday.

The Aston Marton V12 Vanquish, valued at $500,000, was stolen during a burglary of an inner-city apartment, said Inspector Les Paterson of the North Shore Police.

"It would be irresistible if you did a burglary and found the keys to an Aston Martin, I guess. Your own chance to be James Bond," he said.

A patrol unit tried to stop the 2003 coupe after it was seen speeding about 4am, said Mr Paterson.

"The vehicle drove on to the motorway and headed south towards the Harbour Bridge. To the surprise of the officers it accelerated away from them like they were standing still and was last seen disappearing into the distant lights of Auckland city," he said.

The patrol car reached 120kmh and the officers clocked the Aston Martin at 180kmh before it was lost from sight, although not before the registration number was noted and the car found to be stolen.

"The police acknowledge that these vehicles, with their 512 horsepower engine, are a little faster than your average Holden Commodore," said Mr Paterson.

He said police could be forgiven for wondering where Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan - actors who have played the role of Bond in the movie franchise - were at that hour of the morning.

The car is registered to the Kitchener Group company owned by David Henderson.

It is understood the car belongs to Mr Henderson, who owns the Hilton Hotel on Auckland's waterfront.

Mr Paterson said it was unlikely the car was stolen to order because the thieves would not be driving it around.

He expected it would be dumped eventually and hoped it would not be damaged before it was recovered.

There was an unconfirmed sighting of the car in West Auckland this afternoon.

Thanks to `GoldenEye` for the alert.

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