Live and let drive: the best and worst James Bond cars ever

No, Mr Bond, I expect you to drive

Cars have played an unforgettable part of every James Bond film. Just as Ian Fleming dropped automotive references into every 007 book, so each of the British spy’s big-screen outings has seen four-wheeled machines featuring heavily – from corkscrewing AMCs to, well, corkscrewing Aston Martins.

Just as his MI6 performance record has had its highs and lows, though, so the secret agent’s vehicular history has been quite the mixed bag.

Here are the best and worst of 007’s motors – starting with easily the most famous…

Hit: Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger)

The debut of Bond’s Silver Birch DB5 had a colossal impact on ’60s cinema goers.

The combination of Sean Connery and the gizmo-laden GT on the Swiss Furka Pass remains as iconic now as it was more than five decades ago – and further appearances with Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig behind the wheel only cemented its place in big-screen history.

Miss: Citroën 2CV (For Your Eyes Only)

Whoever thought of having Bond try to outrun a Peugeot 504 with a 2CV must have plumbed the depths to find two vehicles less befitting Fleming's famous agent.

Helmed by the spy after his Esprit is disabled, the bright-yellow Citroën spawned a special road edition for undiscerning fans, complete with fake bullet-hole stickers – though, unlike Bond’s souped-up version, it only had the standard engine.

Hit: Sunbeam Alpine SII (Dr No)

Set in Jamaica, 007’s encounter with Dr No had no use for a long-legged grand tourer and, although not as butch as his future wheels, the Sunbeam Alpine was perfect for James Bond’s big-screen debut.

Better yet, this stylish little ragtop roadster is probably the best value Bond car any aspiring double-O agent can buy today.

Miss: BMW Z3 (Goldeneye)

Mass-built and underpowered, the mid-’90s Z3 was the worst kind of product placement.

Just plain wrong for Bond, even with the less-than-statuesque Pierce Brosnan behind the wheel, the Beemer still looks like an overgrown slipper. Supposedly fitted with a battery of Q-branch kit, not a single trick is deployed on screen.

Hit: Mercury Cougar XR7 (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)

An inspired piece of casting, Tracy di Vicenzo’s XR7 was the antithesis of actress Diana Rigg’s previous on-screen wheels – the Lotus Elan from The Avengers.

The ill-fated Mrs Bond’s machine was a high-spec example with a 335bhp V8 under the hood, and its rarity and muscle-car credentials only increased its currency in a film that’s more appreciated with the passing of time.

The highlight? Obviously the ice-racing.

Miss: AMC Hornet (The Man With The Golden Gun)

By the time AMC began offering free cars in 1974, the 007 plot lines were so pedestrian that even rotating a car through 360 degrees while jumping over a canal couldn’t revive flagging interest.

Stolen by Bond in pursuit of Scaramanga, the Hornet is one of countless AMC machines seen in the film – including the Matador coupe that becomes a plane – but even the historic spiral stunt couldn’t make it a standout model.

Hit: Lotus Esprit S1 (The Spy Who Loved Me)

Lotus Esprits would turn up again in later Bond movies, but its first showing was its finest and helped to define the car.

The lines of the Giugiaro wedge were at their purest in S1 guise, emphasised further by 007’s car being finished in white. Screaming along a Mediterranean cliff-top, the Esprit proved a credible successor to his previous machines, until it all descended into farce when the Lotus became a submarine.

Legendary scenes, but only for their silliness.

Miss: Renault 11 (A View To A Kill)

Admittedly, this boxy French four-door wasn’t intended for our hero to drive, but even cutting the poor thing in half in the heart of Paris couldn’t make the 'borrowed' taxi an interesting steed.

Hit: Rolls-Royce Phantom III (Goldfinger)

The great thing about Auric Goldfinger’s cinematic conveyance was that it was such an unlikely choice.

The stout ’37 Roller perfectly reflected the physique of its villainous owner, played by Gert Frobe: both were as lithe as a pork pie.

It could never threaten our hero in a car chase and it was hardly sinister, with great swathes of yellow down its flanks. Yet, chauffeured by the rotund Odd Job, the team made an unpredictable and memorable picture.

Miss: The Moon Buggy (Diamonds Are Forever)

Having been wooed back into the role of Bond for 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery found himself driving Robbie the Robot in a moon base simulation, as the franchise increasingly imitated a Benny Hill segment.

Not as ready for rough terrain as its action sequence would suggest, the wheels reportedly kept falling off during filming.

Hit: Aston Martin DBS (Casino Royale)

Daniel Craig brought audiences a Bond that was closer to the character of the books and, with him, a revival of the relationship with Aston Martin.

A DBS threading London streets might conjure thoughts of Premiership footballers, but the Aston still cuts a dash outside the casino in Monte-Carlo – and it set a new record for that air cannon-assisted roll in the memorable chase scene, spinning seven and a half times.

Miss: BMW 750iL (Tomorrow Never Dies)

As if seeing 007 in a German saloon wasn't bad enough, Bond drives this one from the back seat with a Sony mobile phone that wasn't so much product-placed as shoved-in-your-face.

Some 17 were given to the production team and, packed with a battery of silly kit – from caltrops to an electrocuting security system – the 750iL represented the worst excesses of the franchise’s extravagance.

Hit: Ford Mustang (Goldfinger, Thunderball, Diamonds Are Forever)

We’re blasé about Mustangs in movies today, but when it made its cinematic debut in September ’64, the car was riding on a wave of popularity – and its early appearances in Goldfinger and Thunderball represent a fitting contribution from the USA to the worldwide phenomenon of Fleming’s creation.

Mustangs also starred in future movies, notably Diamonds Are Forever (pictured).

Miss: Ford Mondeo (Casino Royale)

He might have been many things over the course of his MI6 career, but Ian Fleming probably didn’t see 007 becoming a Mondeo man.

Bond behind the wheel of a four-door Ford in the Bahamas in Casino Royale was more estate agent than secret agent – and it paved the way for the garish gold Ka that showed up in Quantum of Solace.

Hit: Aston Martin DBS (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service)

Following the DB5 was almost as tough as George Lazenby taking over from Sean Connery, yet with the passing of time both Aston and the Aussie Milk Tray man have aged well. Both brought something different to the role.

Painted metallic green, the six-cylinder S looks great in its pre spoiler-and-skirts incarnation – indeed, with the surfeit of silver DB5s, there’s an argument that this Bond Aston is the coolest of the lot.

Miss: Jaguar XKR (Die Another Day)

The XKR might be a blood relative of the DB7, but in this guise – decorated as adversary Zao’s enemy gunship, with everything from gatling guns to rocket launchers to mortar bombs on-board – it comes off as a poor imitation of the real Q-branch ride.

Hit: BMW Z8 (The World Is Not Enough)

If Britain’s finest spy is going to drive a German car, it might as well be a good one. Inspired by the beautiful and exotic 507, the Z8 certainly looked special – but BMW hadn’t actually built any by the time shooting started.

Instead, body panels were attached to a Dax Cobra mule for the action sequences. Supposedly equipped with an arsenal of gadgets, the Beemer is sliced in half by a helicopter-mounted circular saw after firing a solitary rocket.

Miss: Alfa Romeo GTV6 (Octopussy)

Like the Datsun 240Z, Alfa’s GTV6 is an undeniably great car – and those Giugiaro lines will always be arresting – but an affordable sports coupé had no place as Bond's motor, even if he did steal it and use it to outrun the German police.

Hit: Toyota 2000GT (You Only Live Twice)

If the DB5 was exclusive, this was positively exotic. Toyota displayed its stunning coupé prototype at the Tokyo show in 1966 and, naturally, the E-type-inspired sports car caught the attention of producer ‘Cubby’ Broccoli.

The roof would have been restrictive for filming so, eager to please, Toyota lopped it off and in a fortnight created a gorgeous roadster for Bond’s Japanese chauffeur – though its film appearances were tantalisingly brief.

Fancy more Bond? The November issue of Classic & Sports Car magazine, on sale now, features 20 pages of 007-related Aston loveliness. Buy it here.