Everyone loves mystery, thriller, action, romance, and murder, right? Maybe not the actual murder as much as solving one. But the cherry on the top has always been car chases. At least for car fans, that is. Only a few movies can combine all of these successfully, and Ian Fleming’s James Bond is one of them.
As iconic as the gadgets that Q designed for the world’s most famous secret agent, like micro ring cameras, cigarette toothpaste bombs, umbrella rifles, car invisible cloak, and whatnot, each James Bond movie also made a point of featuring a couple of noteworthy vehicles.
After all, nothing can beat good ol’ gunfights and fast cars, right? Maybe not so much a Martini, no matter how well it is shaken but not stirred.
So without further ado, here are the best, somewhat in-between, and worst cars featured in the James Bond franchise.
Best James Bond Cars
Alfa Romeo GTV6 – Octopussy (1983)
In the movie titled “Octopussy” (not at all sexist), double O seven, in the heat of the action, gently “borrows” Alfa Romeo GTV6 from a lady using a telephone booth (google it). He then presses the pedal to the metal escaping from the police.
That gorgeous golden brown Alfa is a front-engine rear-wheel-drive mean machine. You can recognize that it hides the 2.5L V6 engine by the bulge on the hood, making space for the air intake.
Chased by a police BMW 5 Series (E28) and police motorcycle BMW R100CS, Bond, played by elegant Roger Moore, escapes all their tricks and gets out unscathed in the Italian coupe (surprise surprise). The GTV6 was undeniably one of the most beautiful and popular Alfa Romeos for years to come.
Toyota 2000GT – You Only Live Twice (1967)
Probably the most iconic Japanese sports car ever made, the Toyota 2000GT had the leading (automotive) role in the quite optimistically titled movie You Only Live Twice. In a scene where one of the best James Bond actors ever, the great Sir Sean Connery, is picked up by a lovely girl and saved from the villains driving another Toyota.
The Black Toyota Crown had the same inline-6 2.0-liter engine as the white Toyota 2000GT convertible, which was, and still is, an elegant piece of engineering. Worth mentioning, the coupe model was too low for Sean Connery (1.88 cm/6′ 2″), so a convertible version was designed and created in a record time.
Ford Mustang Convertible & Aston Martin DB5 – Goldfinger (1964)
After Italian and Japanese classics, we finally have an American icon! In Goldfinger, Ford intended to debut the Mustang Fastback, but it all happened so fast that the initial plan evolved into promoting a Mustang Convertible instead. The muscle car took on the famous Aston Martin DB5 in an exhilarating car chase.
In breathtaking scenes on twisty Swiss roads, Bond (Connery) provokes the green-eyed Tilly into making a driving error and finally ending in a ditch. Like the gentleman he is, he then helps the poor girl get out of the wreck, taking her into his arms, of course.
At the time, the Ford Mustang was entering the scene with a bang that year, and it was the start of a long and fruitful legacy.
However, the real star for the show was the breathtaking Aston Martin DB5, with which Bond chases Tilly. It was an uneven fight as the Mustang was equipped with a 144 cu. in. straight-6 engine with 150 ponies vs. the DB5’s 243.9 cu. in. 6-cylinder engine outputting nearly twice the power. Although the DB5 was full of gadgets and not the ‘Stang, esthetically, this pair was one of the most beautiful of the James Bond franchise.
Following its appearance in Goldfinger, the popularity of the British coupe was so considerable that Aston Martin produced a special series of 25 cars half a century after the original was made, with the same specification and gadgets, selling each for $3.5 million apiece!
Lotus Esprit “Wet Nellie” – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
This one is by far the most special vehicle of the lot. We use the term “vehicle” instead of “car” as it was essentially a submarine/amphibious supercar. No one really cared that this Lotus was only powered by a 162 HP engine.
In a scene where James Bond, joined by lovely KGB Major Anya Amasova, was being chased and shot by a helicopter, the only way out was underwater. It was a cool trick that kept the audience on the edge of their seats. The whole car morphed into a submarine and even shot back a rocket at the helicopter. It might sound naive and surreal now, but at the time, it was pretty futuristic.
After the fight, the white Lotus Esprit transformed back into a car and continued its course on the beach.
The original submarine (as there was a road car as well) was bought by no other than Elon Musk, the real-life wannabe James Bond/Tony Stark. Maybe that explains the Cybertruck‘s unorthodox design?!
BMW Z3 – GoldenEye (1995)
Roadsters are regular stars in James Bond movies, but this time, we are talking about a German model. The BMW Z3 was a significant breakthrough for the Bavarian manufacturer as it was unveiled in the film, even before sales began the following year. And what a successful campaign that was for BMW! It sold the whole year production of 15.000 units in advance.
The Z3 packed a 1.9 L 140HP engine, powerful enough to make the car fun to drive and nimble, thanks to the lightweight body and outstanding balance. As usual with James Bond cars, this Atlanta Blue BMW came with all the bells and whistles, rockets, parachutes, obligatory radar, and even fighter jet-style ejector seats.
The scene was set on the Caribbean coast where Bond, this time portrayed by the charming Pierce Brosnan, drove the roadster alongside astonishing Russian computer programmer Natalya.
Those couple of minutes were enough to catapult the BMW Z3 into the automotive stardom!
Aston Martin Valhalla – No Time to Die (2021)
The mythical Valhalla will be the fourth Aston Martin to appear in the next 007 movies. The Valhalla was scheduled for a world premiere in 2020, but Aston Martin delayed the launch to this year. The brand also changed the initially planned V6 hybrid with a bi-turbo V8 hybrid from AMG. The result is a 950-HP mid-engine hypercar that sprints to 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds.
In No Time to Die (which was supposed to be released last April but was postponed to October 8th, 2021 due to the pandemic), Daniel Craig plays a hardcore James Bond alongside dreamy eyes Léa Seydoux playing Dr. Madeleine Swann. We don’t doubt that they will again save the world with a bit of help from our beloved tin friends.
An old friend will also reappear here. Namely, the Aston Martin DB5 will cover the secret agent’s back one more time, in addition to appearances by a Maserati Quattroporte, a couple of Land Rover Defenders, and the DBS Superleggera.
It could be another successful car-promoting campaign. Maybe the best one yet?
Something In-Between
Citroën 2CV – For Your Eyes Only (1981)
As cool as a Citroën 2CV can be, it just doesn’t make the cut when compared to all these supercars. But thanks to the Q-modified unique suspension, it gave us some gravity-defying car chase scenes unmatched by any other car yet. It got rolled over, went offroad, and even got airborne but kept driving! Unfortunately, we have no information regarding how many 2CVs were used in the making of For Your Eyes Only, but we suspect a lot of them.
Regardless, for the movie, the original 602cc two-cylinder made way for the four-cylinder engine from the Citroën GS. That partially explains the acrobatics performed by the legendary stuntman Rémy Julienne behind the wheels of that 2CV.
Anyway, this car is genuinely iconic and added a nice touch to this James Bond movie—it just had to be recognized!
Worst James Bond Cars
Renault 11 Taxi – A View To A Kill (1985)
What could you possibly drive in the French capital in the ’80s other than a Renault 11? Yeah, it was a common sight in Europe at that time. Hence, it was the logical choice for the secret agent (Roger Moore) as he watched the parachute of the lady villain May Day (played by extraordinary singer/model Grace Jone) gliding through the air into the boat of her buddy, the other villain Max Zorin (played by Christofer Walken).
Bond snatched the car from a taxi driver and took all the shortcuts possible to catch the bad guys. We had the chance to watch that poor little hatchback drive down a flight of stairs, jump over a bus, get its roof chopped off, only to finally get halved by another car.
Although not very attractive nor legendary, the Renault 11 had its minute of glory after all.
Ford Ka – Quantum of Solace (2009)
In Quantum of Solace, a mesmerizing Camille (played by Olga Kurylenko) drives through the streets of Haiti with a microcar Ford Ka (hence the name, short for “car”). Sadly, the scene looked more like a car commercial than part of the movie. There wasn’t much action or stunts involved either—just the usual, cutting a funeral vehicle and sending coffins flying all over the place.
There is nothing wrong with this city car, don’t get us wrong here. However, when compared to all those Astons, Lotuses, Alfas, and BMWs, it really doesn’t bode well.
Nonetheless, Ford used the Bond movie to promote the second generation of Ka. It even went further and offered a Quantum of Solace edition in golden yellow with a logo of the evil organization imprinted on the rear quarter of the vehicle.
Very attractive for potential future buyers, ha?
Bajaj RE – Octopussy (1983)
Aaaaand we have a rickshaw at the end of this list. What can a 10HP three-wheeler offer to the viewers? Well, in the hands of a stunt driver combined with special effects, almost every vehicle can bring a hell of a car chase. Off the screens, we are not convinced that the Bajaj RE is that exciting and pleasant to drive, though.
This Indian car usually packs a 150-200cc motorcycle engine producing around 9-15HP. However, for the stunts that it pulls, it had to be tuned quite a bit. Doing wheelies is not what it was designed for in the first place.
We are not even so sure about the acting of Roger Moore while he was being driven, sitting on the rear-facing back seat. He looked pretty scared, and when you see how fragile that vehicle looks, we bet it wasn’t so hard to act.
Last Words
Although we haven’t mentioned the following Bond car, the most memorable car chase scene was actually in the 1983 movie “Never Say Never Again.” How could we forget that little red Renault 5 Turbo 2 with a mid-mounted 1.4L 160HP Turbo engine. In this movie, James was chased by that street-legal rally car while riding a spy tweaked Yamaha XJ 650 Turbo Motorcycle (yeah, turbos were a big hit back then). The Renault 5 handled those twisty and narrow streets of Villefranche-sur-Mer in Nice like a champ!
All that to say that if we had to choose a single James Bond movie with a top-of-the-chart car chase, we would place our bet on “Never Say Never Again.”
What’s yours?
