We couldn’t help but notice the group of green-shirted men hanging out in front of the Aston Martin showroom at Park and 57th. It was about 8:45 am. Clearly something was about to happen there well before the normal 10 a.m. opening time.

We inquired. It turns out Aston Martin had invited a number of automotive journalists to come by to test drive their new model, the Aston Martin Vanquish S. (It was parked outside.)

Aston Martins are elegant, British and cool.

The showroom at 450 Park Avenue opened about two years ago. Craig McLaughlin and I would often walk by the window and admire. Craig once fell into conversation with another goggler, an English fellow. They had a long conversation about James Bond’s Aston Martins, something they both knew all abou. The first was the Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger (1964). It was outfitted with an ejector seat, machine guns behind the headlines, tire slashes, smoke screen, road grease and, of course, revolving license plates.

We have long been taken by the 12-cylinder convertible now in the window. It’s a luscious “sage green,” we were told. That one would sell for $500,000 or thereabouts.

We shortened the conversation with the smart woman managing the event. She had lots to do.

For us, it was back into the air-conditioning.