Ahead of James Bond: No Time To Die that releases on 30 September, we look into the agent’s automobile diary, picking out our top 10 James Bond cars of all time.
We’ve seen both alter-egos of the 007, whether he’s chasing down villains during the day or sipping on cocktails with impossibly beautiful women after hours. In between these two personalities, however, a few things remained constant – sharply-tailored suits, classic watches, and cars to die for.
Today, we’re focusing on the latter. Contrary to popular belief, Bond didn’t always drive an Aston Martin. Here, a lowdown on James Bond’s best cars from 1964 to 2021.
The DB5 is the Bond ride, especially since it’s been his preferred choice of the car since 1964. It’s now made an appearance five times throughout the years, from the Sean Connery’s era to the Daniel Craig’s, so we can easily say that the DB5’s mark in the franchise is truly eternal. Besides, it was a real threat for the Bond-baddies.
Here’s a James Bond car that wasn’t actually owned by the agent himself, but his future wife, Tracy Di Vicenzo. The red Mercury Cougar XR-7 made this icy chase much better. Besides, we’d like to give Tracy some credit for those snowy drifts and masterful control on the ice track.
Who would have thought James Bond would ever be spotted in an American muscle car? The late Sean Connery dodged a few cops through Las Vegas in this scarlet beauty in Diamonds are Forever. He then manages to lose them by driving on two wheels through a narrow alley.
It’s not everyday you see a car turn into a deep-sea submarine. In this twist of events in The Spy Who Loved Me, Bond tries to outrun his chasers by transforming his Esprit S1 into an underwater vehicle. Interestingly, the Lotus Esprit’s shape also spearheaded the ‘wedge’ car trend in the 70s.
While the other Esprit in the franchise turned into a sea submarine, this one managed to stay on land. With a pair of ski blades attached to the rear, Roger Moore’s Bond elegantly cruised around town in this very consipicuous Lotus Esprit Turbo. Needless to say, this copper fire metallic paint job became quite the hit after the movie aired.
A Citroën might not seem like a very James Bond car, but it actually saved his life in the movie. After his original Bond car exploded, he was left with no option but to hop into a seat next Melina Havelock in her Citroën 2CV. He then took over the wheel after she turtled the car.
This might be the most luxurious car in James Bond’s garage, but the classic Rolls-Royce was actually the personal vehicle of Cubby Broccoli, one of the Bond franchise’s producers. This chase scene remains to be pure cinematic gold after all these years; after being knocked out and left in a lake to drown, Bond regains conciousness and survives by using its tire air to breathe underwater. In the “real” world, the Cloud II was a ride reserved for royals.
The Z8, with Pierce Brosnan behind the wheel, looked equal parts classy and fierce. Besides, it was clearly ahead of its time, with the ability to drive itself even before Tesla did, making it quite the sight when it first aired in the ’90s. That’s not its only party trick though; the car has a missile launcher hidden within its doors, which took care of any enemies quite easily.
If you ever wondered what a quintessential action scene involving James Bond and his cars looked like, just watch the car chase in Die Another Day. The V12 Vanquish in the scene is not only near-invisible and extremely silent, but also had an extremely high-tech cockpit, and has a rocket launcher. All this, of course, is hidden under Aston Martin’s elegance on the outside.
In 2015’s Spectre, we witnessed the pinnacle of Aston Martin’s on-road elegance. This DB10 was specially built for Bond, and was a spectacular expression of bespoke elegance and English craftsmanship. Under the hood, a 4.7-litre V8 petrol engine that could leap up to 306kph. One of its 10 special edition models was auctioned off in 2016 for £2.4 million.
This article first appeared on Lifestyle Asia India.
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