Which Bond Car Was The Best?

November 17th, 2017

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Some of the fun things about the James Bond movies (and the books) are the spy gadgets.  This is especially apt, given that the author, Ian Fleming, and his brother Peter were both British intelligence agents and probably had plenty of their own real encounters with all kinds of cunning stuff. However, the gadget in the films that sticks out the most would have to be the cars.  Even the James Bond rip-offs like the Johnny English films feature at least one car with plenty of bells and whistles.

The car marque that springs to mind first in a discussion of Bond cars is, naturally, Aston Martin, with various incarnations of the DB5 and DBS being used in the films. This product placement has been the making of the luxury marque, as it’s hard to think of Aston Martin without thinking of James Bond and vice versa.

However, the Aston Martin DB5 is by no means the only type of car ever driven by Agent 007 and Aston Martin isn’t the only marque that ever won the honour of product placement in the shape of being a Bond car.  The very first Bond car was a Sunbeam Alpine (in Dr No), and over the many decades of Bond, the super-spy has driven a Bentley (From Russia With Love), a Toyota 2000 GT (You Only Live Twice – they had to modify this to an open-top version so tall Scotsman Sean Connery could fit into this little Japanese supercar), a Ford Mustang (Diamonds Are Forever), a handful of Lotuses, a Rolls-Royce (A View To A Kill) and several BMWs.

OK, so out of all the Bond cars, which one was the coolest and most fun?  We’ll rule out the rather tame Sunbeam right away.  Here’s my pick for the top contenders in roughly chronological order.

1. 1963 Aston Martin DB5: Goldfinger and Thunderball. This was the first Bond car to get cool gadgets as well as being the debut of the Aston Martin. It featured an ejector seat, a smoke screen, guns and tyre slashers.
2. Lotus Esprit: The Spy Who Loved Me. Nicknamed “Wet Nellie”, this one could famously go underwater like a submarine as well as being able to dish out torpedoes and cover its escape by squirting out ink like a squid.  Trivia time: the original that’s used in the movie is owned by Elon Musk of Tesla (and PayPal and SpaceX and…)
3. 1985 Aston Martin V8: The Living Daylights: Missiles with a heads-up guidance display system, a rocket propulsion system, tyre spikes and the ability to listen in to all police radio frequencies.
4. 1963 Aston Martin DB5: Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies: Outruns a Ferrari Spider 355 and has a chiller compartment for champagne.
5. BMW Z3: Goldeneye: Although it’s got a parachute braking system, missile launchers, radar and an ejector seat, plus hints of other gadgetry, we don’t get to see them in operation in the movie. You don’t get them in real BMW Z3s either.
6. BMW 750iL: Tomorrow Never Dies. This one can be driven by remote control operated by Bond’s mobile phone and also dispenses tear gas by remote control. Door handles that deliver electric shocks, wire cutters, caltrop dispensers, reinflating tyres and, of course, missile launchers complete the package.  Again, don’t look for these in your standard 7-series BMW.
7. BMW Z8: The World Is Not Enough: Another remote-controlled BMW for Bond. This one has the missile guidance system housed in the steering wheel. As well as all the usual guns and missiles, this one can also generate an EMP shock that wipes out any electronics in its vicinity.
8. Aston Martin V12 Vanquish: Die Another Day. This one’s nicknamed the Vanish thanks to its invisibility cloak.  It’s also got old favourites like ejector seats and guns galore.  It goes head-to-head with the villain’s equally tricked-out Jag that has a thermal imaging display.

OK, people, it’s voting time.  Which of these Bond Cars was the best?  Are there any other hot contenders?  And what gadgets would you like to see on a Bond car if they ever make another movie in the series?  Leave a comment and let us know! http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi-next.html

8 comments

1. Rod says:

   You forgot the Volvo

   November 21st, 2017 at 2:02 pm

2. Stephen Snars says:

   Its an Aston DB5, not a DBS.

   November 22nd, 2017 at 6:47 am

3. Anthony Williams says:

   You are SO right Stephen Snars.

   A DB5 it was.

   Imagine what that particular vehicle would now be worth !! Cheers.

   November 23rd, 2017 at 4:01 pm

4. Alec Mead says:

   What happened to the Black Ford Consul Sedan???????

   November 23rd, 2017 at 8:41 pm

5. Megan says:

   The Volvo was a hire car in Quantum of Solace so doesn’t count.

   November 24th, 2017 at 7:03 am