Just got my hands on a bunch of new 2007 Ford Mondeo pictures including some straight from the James Bond Casino Royal movie set that will open in cinemas worldwide on November 17.

According to Ford, although 007 (played by Daniel Craig) will use an Aston Martin as his personal vehicle, the new Mondeo will be the first car to appear in the film as Bond drive's to a hotel after arriving in the Bahamas on the trail of a terrorist cell.

The Mondeo featured in the movie is a specially-built 5-door example Ford's upcoming mid-size sedan, fitted with a sports bodykit. But despite its near to production looks, this is not a real car: it's a look-alike (drivable though), made from wood and fiberglass!

It was constructed by hand at Ford of Europe's Design Studio in Cologne, Germany, in January, 2006 and it was then shipped under great secrecy to the filming location in the Bahamas, where the short driving sequence was filmed.

"The new Mondeo was essentially still on the drawing board when we were asked to supply the vehicle for filming in February 2006," said Martin Smith, Ford of Europe's Executive Director for Design. "As volume production for the car doesn't start until the second quarter of 2007, we had to create a one-off, driveable model based around a design studio property!"

"This team normally builds the clay and fiberglass models of all of our future products, so they are used to demanding timeframes and making full-scale models look like real vehicles," Smith added.

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