Perfectly tailored suits, the Walther PPK pistol, and the vodka martini. There are numerous signature items that define James Bond, perhaps the most popular film franchise in the world.
But it’s the James Bond cars that attract the most attention in all films that feature the fictional MI6 agent.
Since he debuted on screen in the 1962 film Dr. No, Bond and his adversaries had the pleasure of driving some of the most stunning cars ever manufactured.
Here are some of the automobiles from the James Bond car collection.
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1. Sunbeam Alpine Series II
Image Credit: NY Daily News
The Sunbeam Alpine Series II was the first Bond car and modest looking.
It appeared in Dr. No, and like several James Bond cars to follow, this vehicle was English-made at Coventry in West Midlands.
The car featured in Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name and was the personal vehicle of John Strangways, the head of Station J, Jamaica.
It’s widely believed that the producers borrowed the car from a local Jamaican, to avoid import costs for filming.
2. Bentley Mark IV Drophead 3.5 Liter
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This one was used in From Russia with Love (1963) and was nearly three decades old at the time of shooting.
In many of Fleming’s novels, Bond drove the Bentley 4.5 liter which was a predecessor of the Mark IV.
Early in the film, Bond is seen enjoying a picnic with Sylvia Trench, when he gets a message from headquarters. He calls Miss Moneypenny from the car’s phone.
3. Aston Martin DB5
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The brand that came to be known as ‘the’ James Bond car. The Aston Martin DB5 appeared in Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965), and later in GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrrow Never Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), and Skyfall (2012).
While the novel Goldfinger mentioned DB Mark III, the producers used the newer Mark IV. The special effects team added a number of gadgets to the car, including ejector seats and a machine gun.
4. Toyota 2000 GT
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Known as the first Japanese supercar, the Toyota 2000 GT was the obvious choice for the 1967 film You Only Live Twice. The film was set in Japan.
It was a limited edition car with only 351 units produced. The 2000 GT was a hardtop coupe.
It had a low roof and was difficult for the 1.89m Sean Connery to get in and out of the car. Toyota, within a short notice, made a special open top version for the film.
5. Aston Martin DBS
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The George Lazenby starrer On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) introduced the James Bond Aston Martin DBS.
The vehicle played a major role in the film’s shocking ending. Bond was shown driving the DBS on a winding Portugal road. Lazenby’s face was silhouetted to allow an artistic introduction.
In the end, Bond’s wife is killed through the car’s windshield. It was the latest Aston Martin car at the time of the film’s making.
6. Mercury Cougar XR-7
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Bond had to rely on Tracy Di Vicenzo’s Mercury Cougar XR-7 when on the run in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
The car was fitted with rally studs for enhanced traction on icy roads. Tracy out-corners the henchmen trying to shoot them.
She enters a race track, and after some laps, escapes the men who are involved in an explosive crash. The XR-7 wasn’t exactly among the James Bond cars per se.
7. Ford Mustang Mach 1
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Diamonds Are Forever (1971) wasn’t well received by the critics. But the Ford Mustang Mach 1 stood out in a chase scene.
The Ford, driven by Tiffany Chase, tricks two police cars that crash into each other before she flees with Bond.
Stuck in a narrow alley, the MI6 agent tells Chase to lean over, and they finally escape in the car on two wheels. The scene was epic by all means.
Also Read: 20 Fastest Mustangs Ever Made
8. AMC Hornet X Hatchback
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This was not one of the James Bond cars that the spy drove. In The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), Bond steals the car from a dealership and drives out of the window.
Sheriff JW Pepper from the 1974 film Live and Let Die, returns as a tourist in Bangkok, and happened to be sitting on the Hornet’s passenger seat. Pepper adds comic relief during the chase.
9. Lotus Espirit S1
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The Lotus was used for the first time in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). The Espirit S1 was involved in a water, air, and land chase sequence.
Bond is attacked from all sides, even with a motorbike fitted with a sidecar jet-propulsion rocket, and the spy cleverly evades them all.
The car transformed into a mini-submarine and guns down a helicopter with a sea-to-air missile. All the while, the beautiful Barbara Bach was on the passenger seat.
10. Lotus Espirit Turbo
Image Credit: Lotus Espirit Turbo
The car from Norwich reappeared in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. The Lotus Espirit Turbo was one of those James Bond cars that was repeated in a subsequent film.
Bond is seen driving the vehicle to the hideout of Hector Gonzales. One of his henchmen ignores the burglar protection sticker and smashes the car’s passenger window.
This triggers the self-destruct system designed by Q and blows both man and car to pieces.
11. Citroen 2CV
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When the Lotus Espirit Turbo self-destructs, Bond and Melina Havelock escapes in the latter’s Citroen 2CV.
The humble looking car was fitted with a bigger engine to withstand the film’s rigorous chase scene.
Even then, some scenes had to be sped up, to forge a fast look of the car on film. At one point Melina topples the car upside down and locals get the vehicle back on wheels.
12. Renault 11
Image Credit: The Driven Blog
This was a Renault taxi used in A View to a Kill (1985).
Bond, hot on the heels of henchwoman May Day, commands a taxi, executes some stunts, drives up a ramp, and romps through the roof of a bus in heavy traffic.
He crashes the Renault 11 in a stop barrier which causes the car’s roof to slice off. Like many other James Bond cars, the Renault 11 is widely remembered for the chase sequence.
13. Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II
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The Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II was unique because unlike other James Bond cars, this came from the personal collection of the film franchise’s owner Cubby Broccoli.
He had bought it back in 1962. With a registration number CUB1, the car was often seen parked in his personal parking space in Pinewood Studios.
In A View to a Kill, the car is seen driven by MI6 agent Godfrey Tibbet, who poses as Bond’s chauffer.
14. Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante
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Timothy Dalton played a new Bond The Living Daylights (1987) and the producers brought the Aston Martin back after 18 years.
Several gadgets were fitted to the car like the DB5 in Goldfinger.
There were missiles, lasers, outriggers, rocket propulsions, and spikes on tires for added traction.
It also had an all-band police receiver, and a missile guidance display on its windshield; certainly one of the fanciest James Bond cars ever.
Also Read: 21 Greatest Racing Formula One Cars of all Times
15. BMW Z3
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GoldenEye was the first among all James Bond films to have a BMW. Q unveils the car before Bond after a demonstration of the parachute braking system.
The James Bond BMW was fitted with an all-points radar, an ejector seat, and stinger missiles behind headlights.
None of the refinements, however, were used in the film. The BMW Z3 was used only once more in a brief scene, when Bond goes to meet his CIA counterpart Jack Wade.
16. BMW 750iL
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The car from the German manufacturer returned in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).
It’s one of the most impressive James Bonds car as regards the gadgets. With bulletproof windows that can withstand sledgehammers, electrified door handles, and remote controlled driving options, the BMW 750iL wowed audiences like never before.
Bond used his mobile phone to activate a teargas attack. The car also had roof-mounted missiles, automatic tire inflators, and a front-mounted steel wire cutter.
17. BMW Z8
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The BMW returned for one final time in Die Another Day (2002). The Z8 retained several earlier James Bond BMW features like the titanium armor, heads-up multitasking display, and beverage cup holders.
Bond used the car’s keys to release its handbrake, and drive the vehicle forward sans losing control, while being chased by a helicopter.
Bond fires the steering-controlled surface-to-air missile to destroy the helicopter. But the car is later cut into half by a metal-cutting gadget fitted to another chopper.
18. Ford Fairlane
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In Die Another Day, Bond asks for a fast car, and is handed a rather vintage 1957 Ford Fairlane.
He drives the car on a picturesque highway to a hotel. The car is never again seen in the film.
The Fairlane was one of those James Bond cars that were not fitted with any gadget. It was used only for transportation.
It was also the James Bond car Spectre when Count Lippe drove it, albeit a different version, in Thunderball.
19. Aston Martin V12 Vanquish
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The Aston Martin V12 Vanquish which Bond rode in Die Another Day had an invisibility cloak, which has since been termed as the most ridiculous gadget ever. It had all the usual refinements of James Bond cars, like torpedoes, ejector seats, and bonnet-mounted target seeking guns.
The V12 Vanquish featured in an elaborate seven-minute chase sequence with the henchman Zao’s Jaguar XKR at the ice palace of main antagonist Gustav Graves.
20. Jaguar C-X75
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The hybrid-electric two-seat Jaguar C-X75 appeared in Spectre (2015) as Mr Hinx’s car.
Hinx chases Bond around the streets of Rome in the C-X75 while the agent himself drives the Aston Martin DB10. The UK-based car company showed seven prototypes of the C-X75 to the film’s producers.
Each unit was visually faithful to the original concept, but were mechanically unrelated. This was the second time that a James Bond Jaguar appeared in the spy film.
Also Read: 15 Most Amazing Armored Cars
21. Aston Martin DBS V12
Image Credit: The Telegraph
The James Bond series was rebooted with Casino Royale (2006) and was the debut of Daniel Craig as the spy in a more serious avatar.
The DBS V12 was the latest Aston Martin at that time. Gadgets were minimal to make things look more real. Two hidden trays inside the car housed a silenced Walther PPK and a defibrillator.
In comparison, the earlier gadgets in James Bond cars looked outrageous. Bond chases Le Chiffre in the DBS V12 when he kidnaps Vesper Lynd.
James Bond cars have had its own fan following ever since the fictional agent debuted on screen back in 1962.
Bond has become more real-life in his later films and many of his cars today don’t have the overdose of fancy gadgets. But he doesn’t do anything average, and neither does his cars.