The Complete History Of James Bond 007’s Cars: From Dr. No to No Time To Die

One of the best parts of watching a new James Bond film is finding out exactly what car the British spy is going to be driving that film. On top of that, what gadgets the car will be equipped with. Since the film’s beginning in 1962 with Dr. No, we’ve been addicted to the oil slicks, smoke screens, and hidden guns that James Bond uses during his endless examples of car chases.

With James Bond: No Time To Die coming early next year, we’ve decided to put together a list of all the Bond cars from every film. Let us know in the comments which was your favourite.

1. Sunbeam Alpine Series II (Dr. No)

With its gorgeous blue paint job and convertible design, this Sunbeam Alpine was ambushed while being driven by Bond on a mountain road. After a bit of top-notch driving from 007, the chasing car rather anticlimactically drives off the side of a cliff.

Add a cheesy line from Bond and bam, you’ve got our first car chase in the 007 Series, and of course, it was with a British-made car.

2. Bentley Mark IV (From Russia With Love)

 

This car doesn’t have as big a part as car in other films, but it’s still a beauty, regardless of the fact it was built 30 years before the film was released. He enjoys a couple of moments in the car with Sylvia Trench, but its 3.7-litre straight 6 was never put to the test.

3. Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger)

Ah, the Aston Martin DB%, one of the most iconic Bond vehicles yet, and the beginning of the film’s long history with the British car brand. It sported a number of gadgets like a smoke screen and an oil slick. Oh, and of course, the ejector seat and headlight-mounted machine guns.

4. Toyota 2000GT (You Only Live Twice)

With Bond travelling to Japan, they of course had to have him drive Japan’s most beautiful sports car, the 2000GT. With only 351 made in total, this car is rare and expensive – perfect for 007. The model pictured above is a hard top, while the car used in the film was modified specifically for Sean Connery who was too tall for it. The roof was removed specifically for the film.

5. Aston Martin DBS (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)

With Bond now happily married, his wife was horribly assassinated in this DBS via a shot through the windshield. See it properly in this sad ending of the film. Spoilers ahead, obviously.

Mercury Cougar (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)

Driven by the soon-to-be wife in the film’s car chase, this car didn’t belong to Bond and therefore had no gadgets. Instead, Tracy Di Vecenzo drove into a stock car race to discourage the bad guys. As usual, this ends badly for the ones in pursuit with their car exploding.

7. Ford Mustang Mach1 (Diamonds Are Forever)

Back with Sean Connery at the helm of 007, the Mustang, owned by Tiffany Case, is involved in a huge chase with the Las Vegas Police. It’s one of the least realistic chases, especially the end on two wheels, but one of the most memorable.

8. AMC Hornet (The Man With The Golden Gun)

Bond steals the AMC Hornet in order to rescue the field agent Mary Goodnight after getting herself kidnapped. One car chase later and the hornet finds itself being barrel-rolled over a river using an old collapsed bridge.

This stunt was the first computer modelled stunt of any film, but they did actually pull it off. See it from a camera of someone on the ground below.

And of course, see the action scene here.

9. Lotus Esprit (The Spy Who Loved Me)

Everyone will know of this Bond car. After a long chase including multiple cars and a helicopter, Bond eventually launched it into the water before it transforms into a fully capable submarine. A fully-working, but not transforming film version of this car was later sold to Elon Musk for just under $1 million.

10. Lotus Esprit Turbo (For Your Eyes Only)

The Lotus Esprit from the previous film certainly made an impact, so the turbo version returned in For Your Eyes Only. Unfortunately though, this car ends up having a rather stick end with James Bond using its self-destruct feature to get rid of the bad guys chasing him as he fled from Hector Gonzales.

11. Citroen 2CV (For Your Eyes Only)

Because of the loss of the Lotus above, Bond has to resort to a Citron 2CV to get him away from danger. It’s not exactly fast, but driven by Melina Havelock and with help from the public who push the car back onto its wheels after it overturns, they get away.

Bond eventually gets behind the wheel of this cute little French car.

12. Bajaj RE Tuk Tuk (Octopussy)

To add a bit of comedy to the film, Bond pilots a Rickshaw Tuk Tuk to escape a gunman. This isn’t any Rickshaw though, as Q has been fiddling with it and has given it a powerful powertrain – powerful enough to make it wheelie.

13. Renault 11 Taxi (A View To Kill)

Often thought as the worst Bond car of the bunch, Bond uses this to chase after the evil May Day as she parachutes off the Eiffel Tower. The roof of the Renault eventually gets ripped off by a stop barrier, then the rear-end of the car gets ripped off after another car hits him.

Stupid? Maybe. But do we love it? Of course.

14. Rolls Royce Silver Cloud II (A View To Kill)

James Bond’s partner Sir Godfrey Tibbett is strangled to death by May Day while posing as 007’s Chauffeur during a car wash. She then knocks Bond unconscious and puts them both in the car before pushing it into a lake. Bond wakes up and uses the air in the tyres to breathe while May Day flees.

15. Aston Martin V8 (The Living Daylights)

Timothy Dalton takes the role of James Bond in this film despite bringing back a car from a previous film 18 years prior. Thankfully, this car has all the gadgets to please us nerds, including tyre spikes, lasers, missiles, and a self destruct. And boy does the car look good, especially with its skis deployed.

16. Aston Martin DB5 (Goldeneye and Tomorrow Never Dies)

Welcome Pierce Brosnan to the franchise in his debut in Goldeneye with the iconic Aston Martin DB5. Bond uses this to race a Ferrari Spider 355 in hopes of impressing MI6 psychologist Caroline who isn’t impressed. Bond slams on the brakes, and when the car comes to a stop, brings out a bottle of Bollinger champagne. If a lady doesn’t like that, what does she like, eh?

The same car makes an appearance in Tomorrow Never Dies, but isn’t really worthy of a mention.

17. BMW Z3 Roadster (Goldeneye)

This BMW has had a thorough Q treatment, with missiles, an ejector seat, and the usual gizmos that Bond might need. Unfortunately, we don’t see much action in this as it’s quickly passed on to another agent who’s told to not touch any of the buttons. We have a feeling a cheque may have been passed from BMW to feature this car, too.

18. BMW 750iL (Tomorrow Never Dies)

This BMW was a castle on wheels, with electrified door handles, impervious windows, and plenty of deterrents such as tear gas and, oh, it was remote controlled from Bond’s phone, too. Unfortunately, like most of Bond’s cars, it ends up in an explosion when he jumps out the car and remotely drives it off a car park.

19. BMW Z8 (The World is Not Enough)

BMW was really getting their money’s worth, but the company’s last car again, came to a rather gruesome end. On running from a helicopter, he soon is able to take it down with a missile. But when a second appears with a high-tech saw dangling from its underside, the car gets chopped in half. What a way to go.

20. Ford Fairlane (Die Another Day)

In search for a fast car and more weaponry, Bond asks a field agent for something to suit his needs. When he finds out the car is a 1057 Ford Fairlane, he’s not impressed. We don’t see a lot of this car, with Bond simply driving it back to the hotel he’s staying in.

21. Aston Martin Vanquish (Die Another Day)

This must be one of the most iconic Bond cars, the gorgeous Aston Martin Vanquish, loaded to the full with the latest equipment and weaponry. Missiles, shotguns, ejector seats and, this one’s amazing, invisibility. Of course, it had to be nicknamed ‘The Vanish’.

Unfortunately, a snowmobile gave away its position while out on a mission, but this resulted in one of the best car chases in Bond history.

22. Aston Martin DBS V12 (Casino Royale)

Daniel Craig takes the wheel from here, and the cars get a tad more serious. With the films following the same seriousness, this Aston was only equipped with a spare gun and a defibrillator. The DBS isn’t around for long, though, as it soon ends up being crashed in the biggest crash in recorded TV history. It rolls 7 times before he’s captured.

23. Aston Martin DB5 (Casino Royale and Skyfall)

This car is won by Bond during a high stakes poker game before being hidden away. In Skyfall, Bond hides M from trackers by using the old DB5 to drive her to Scotland. It’s later on destroyed but rebuilt by Q where it’s briefly seen during Spectre.

24. Aston Martin DB10 (Spectre)

This bespoke Aston Martin wasn’t supposed to be for 007, but after stealing it from Q and using it in a car chase against a concept Jaguar C-X75, it inevitably is destroyed. It’s load with tech, including a bulletproof exterior, flamethrowers, a rear machine gun (that wasn’t  loaded for poor James), and of course, an ejector seat.

25. Aston Martin DB5 (No Time To Die)

With No Time To Die still yet to be released, we don’t know much about the return of the DB5. What we do know is that it still has its headlamp-mounted machine guns. And of course, it’s bulletproof.

26. Aston Martin Valhalla (No Time To Die)

We’re yet to see this car in any trailers, but the mid-engined Valhalla is reportedly going to be James Bond’s main car in the next film. It houses a hybrid V6 powertrain with plenty of power and Formula 1 technology, but what we really can’t wait for is its gadgets. Bring on 2020!