Bond’s Best Rides: A Look at 007’s Most Iconic Cars
Britain’s most popular spy drove around in some amazing cars. The most iconic James Bond cars gave the spy the ability to get out of trouble in a hurry.
Whether it was catching the evil villain or escaping via high-speed chase, James Bond has spent fifty years thwarting crime as England’s most famous spy. From the first time Sean Connery uttered “Bond, James Bond” or “shaken, not stirred,” James Bond has been a significant character in movie history. Where would 007 be without his famous rides: nowhere, and that’s why we want to showcase the most iconic James Bond cars.
Aston Martin DB5
The Aston Martin DB5 is the quintessential Bond car. This amazing luxury ride showed up in six Bond movies as a staple of the franchise. This car has been the coolest machine made for these movies, giving the famous spy machine guns, an oil sprayer, tire shredders, rotating number plates, a tracking system, and an ejector seat. These items were only made for the top spy who singlehandedly stopped more crime than all of Scotland Yard.
Lotus Esprit S1
The DB5 might be the top model and the most iconic James Bond car, but the Lotus Esprit S1 could be the most unique and interesting. This car participated in one of the best car chases of the entire movie franchise and then took a plunge off a pier before tuning into a submarine to continue the chase underwater. This Lotus was tough for many of the stunt drivers to handle, but they figured it out and gave us an incredible chase during The Spy Who Loved Me, which was the only movie that featured this exotic sports car.
Aston Martin V8 Vantage
As awesome as the DB5 might be, the V8 Vantage was much better, delivering incredible power and speed. This car came with a 5.3-liter V8 engine that sent 370 horsepower to the wheels. The pure luxury elegance of the V8 Vantage made it one of the most amazing cars to show up in a Bond movie. The only movie in which we saw this Aston Martin is The Living Daylights in which the car was winterized with outrigger skis, spikes, lasers in the wheels, and missiles.
BMW 750iL
This is one of the few cars on the list that actually seems like a spy car. The BMW 750iL blends in with the background and looks more like an executive sedan than one of the most iconic James Bond cars. This BMW appeared in Tomorrow Never Dies and brought incredible power to the role thanks to the massive V12 engine under the hood. The massive size made it easier for the agency to add more stuff to this car, giving Bond more tools and toys to take down the bad guys.
Mercury Cougar XR-7
This car wasn’t driven by Bond but by the villain he chased down in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. In the chase scene, Bond drives an Aston Martin DBS, but the Cougar XR-7 takes center stage as the bigger star in this movie. This car is one of the few models in Bond films without gadgets, but that didn’t stop the movie makers from giving it lots of screen time and action during the film. The villain driving this car does all the driving and ends up as Mrs. Bond.
Lotus Esprit Turbo
This is one o the coolest cars in any Bond film that only had a short cameo appearance. Still, it is one of the most iconic James Bond cars for its pure style, sport, exotic nature, and the deep red paint that was offset by gold wheel and graphics to make it look amazing. This car was blown up in For Your Eyes Only, which was a big of a shame considering how cool it is.
Toyota 2000GT Roadster
Another car that wasn’t driven by our favorite British spy, the Toyota 2000GT Roadster, was a feature car in You Only Live Twice. This Toyota was used to save Bond from a nefarious end twice. Once the stuck spy was saved, the roadster showed off some sweet driving moves through Tokyo to show that Aki could really handle this amazing machine. Strangely, Toyota never got to capitalize on this movie car, never actually putting it into production in the roadster build but it was sold as a coupe.
These are only a few of the most iconic James Bond cars, made to bring memories of the incredible movie franchise that has entertained us for more than fifty years.