Four different Aston Martin models can be seen in the latest James Bond film »No Time to Die«, released in 2021. With the exception of the »Valhalla« concept car, they have all been used as the secret agent’s official car. In between, Agent 007 was also on the road in vehicles from other brands. A journey through the Bond past on four wheels.
Sunbeam Alpine Series II
In the 1962 film »Dr. No«,, which marked the beginning of what is probably the most famous series of agents in film history, James Bond – then played by Sean Connery – is on the road across Jamaica in a Sunbeam Alpine Series II. The film crew rented the car from a local resident for the shoot. The striking shape of this sports car is the result of the work of the two engineers Kenneth Howes and Jeff Crompton. In 1956, the two were commissioned to design a sporty vehicle that was to ensure high sales figures, particularly in the USA. The model could have been the Ford Thunderbird .
Aston Martin DB5
The DB5 achieved fame through its appearance in the Bond film »Goldfinger« and is still regarded as the car most closely associated with the secret agent. The Aston Martin DB5 also attracted attention because it introduced the famous Bond gadgets – including the ejector seat and the retractable tire slashers.
»I did a sketch of the car, and then discussed that with [special effects supervisor] John Stears«, recalls production designer Ken Adams in an interview with BBC Top Gear. »I had a Jaguar, which was continuously being damaged by people parking badly. Having guns at the back of the Aston Martin and the over-riders becoming like boxing gloves and so on, became part of me releasing my frustrations. I’m a sports car freak myself, you see, so all the ideas for the gimmickry and gadgets were no problem. They were just my own dreams! I got rid of a lot of my inhibitions when it came to designing the Aston Martin.«
Lotus Esprit S1
It is not without good reason that Roger Moore’s angular Lotus company car is nicknamed »Wet Nellie«, as the vehicle can be transformed into a submarine if required. The Lotus Esprit can be seen in the films »The Spy Who Loved Me« (1977) and »For Your Eyes Only« (1981), whereby the vehicle in the film first shown in 1981 was a Lotus Esprit HC Turbo. The Lotus Esprit S1 Submarine version was – as you can imagine – never intended for public sale, it was a film production by engineers at Perry Oceanographic Inc. from Riviera Beach in Florida. Side note: Many years later, Elon Musk bought one of the vehicles specially converted for the film at auction for GBP 550,000.
Aston Martin V8
The 1987 film »The Living Daylights« marks James Bond’s return to Aston Martin, but this time his official car is a V8 Volante. In keeping with the tradition of Bond vehicles, this is of course not a normal one, but a specially upgraded version for the secret agent – with a laser cannon attached to the wheels, retractable skis and a rocket engine. Several variants of the V8 are used in the film, a Volante with a Vantage engine as well as a V8 Saloon, which made its debut a decade before Timothy Dalton’s incarnation of the secret agent. The vehicle was both the fastest four-seater production model of its time and Britain’s first genuine »supercar«.
BMW Z3
In »GoldenEye« (1995) with Pierce Brosnan, there is a sudden switch to BMW and with it the switch to the sporty convertible as the official company car. James Bond drove the 1.9-liter four-cylinder with 140 hp, whereby the nimble roadster was of course equipped with a few extras – including all-round radar, Stinger missiles behind the fog lights and a self-destruction system. Apart from the all-round radar, however, James Bond did not use any of the gadgets in »GoldenEye« because the German car manufacturer did not want one of the brand’s top sellers to be seen as a vehicle equipped with weapons.
BMW Z8
In »The World Is Not Enough« from 1999, 007, once again played by Pierce Brosnan, drives a BMW for the third and final time, this time a Z8. BMW only produced a total of 5,703 units of this model between March 2000 and July 2003. Pre-production models were used for the filming. The vehicle is sawn in half in the movie.
Aston Martin DBS
With »Die Another Day« (2002), James Bond returns to the British sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. What’s more, from now on it’s no longer Pierce Brosnan but Daniel Craig as a secret agent in Her Majesty’s Secret Service – in a 460 hp Aston Martin Vanquish. In »Casino Royale« they remain true to this line, but swap the Vanquish for a DBS, which is also used as the official company car in »Quantum of Solace«. The shape of the new DBS is unmistakably an Aston Martin, albeit a little stronger, wider and more muscular. From 1967 to 1972 there was already a Gran Turismo from the Aston Martin brand with the name DBS. This also appears in some Bond films.
Aston Martin DB10
Bond’s company car in »Spectre« (2015) is an Aston Martin DB10 built just for the movie. A total of ten copies were made, eight of which were used for filming and the remaining two for PR purposes. Aston Martin Design Director Marek Reichman is responsible for the design of the DB10 . »Sam Mendes wanted us to create a kind of poster car for those young people who are seeing James Bond for the first time«, says Reichman in an interview with Top Gear. »I interpreted the order to mean that Sam had a brand new DB5 in mind. The DB5 is pure, it is simple, it has a radiator grille that is so beautiful it makes you want to die. It is a scalpel, not a kitchen knife. That’s what Sam wanted Bond’s car to be, a simple, pure Aston Martin, like the original DB5 was.« [SW]
