There are many elements that make up a James Bond film that go beyond the actual narrative, from martinis shaken-not-stirred to Q’s gadgets, female co-stars to an air of sophistication. Each, in their own way, is as much of a part of James Bond as the character himself. There is one addition component, however, that likewise shares screen time with 007 and is equally important – the various cars that the British spy masterfully drives in each installment.
“Cars speak volumes,” Frédéric Brun writes in the introduction to the 2015 tribute book James Bond: Cars. “They tell stories, recount myths and sometimes whisper lies. They embody trends and combine styles. It’s no surprise then – cars have played a major, ever-growing part in the James Bond films. The fictional hero imagined by Ian Fleming over a half-century ago has become an iconic figure of contemporary western mythology. His cars cannot go unnoticed. It doesn’t matter whether he chooses, uses, borrows, drives or crashes them. Some of them are even more famous than the actors who drove them.”
To celebrate these flashy co-stars of the James Bond films, the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, premiered Bond In Motion in January 2012, an exhibit featuring the largest collection of Bond cars ever assembled. Bond In Motion later made its way to the London Film Museum for a one year engagement in 2014, but its success led to the exhibit becoming a permanent fixture at the museum until the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.
Bond In Motion contained some of the most memorable and iconic vehicles in the history of the film franchise, from the Sunbeam Alpine series II convertible from Dr. No that has the distinction of being the very first Bond car, to Auric Goldfinger’s 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III, to the submersible Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me, and even the original cello case that Timothy Dalton used to ski down a mountain in The Living Daylights.
In the books of Ian Fleming, James Bond himself was a car enthusiast. “Bond’s car was his only personal hobby,” Fleming explained in Casino Royale. “One of the last of the 4½-litre Bentleys with the supercharger by Amherst Villiers, he had bought it almost new in 1933 and had kept it in careful storage during the war. It was still serviced every year and, in London, a former Bentley mechanic, who worked in a garage near Bond’s Chelsea flat, tended it with jealous care. Bond drove it hard and well and with an almost sensual pleasure.”
While filming Dr. No – the first Bond motion picture – the Bentley company refused to lend one of their cars for the production, believing that its appearance in a motion picture would be “vulgar.” Thus while cars were indeed featured in the first two James Bond films, none of them were essentially known as a “Bond car” at that time. That would change, however, with the third film in the series – Goldfinger – and the introduction of the Aston Martin DB5.
“Bond had been offered the Aston Martin or a Jaguar 3.4,” Ian Fleming wrote in the book version of Goldfinger. “He had taken the DB III. Either of the cars would have suited his cover – a well-to-do, rather adventurous young man with a taste for the good, the fast things in life. But the DB III had the advantage of an up-to-date triptyque, an inconspicuous color – battleship grey – and certain extras which might or might not come in handy.”
Fleming then went on to describe those “extras,” which included “switches to alter the type and color of Bond’s front and rear lights if he was following or being followed at night, reinforced steel bumpers, fore and aft, in case he needed to ram, a long-barreled Colt .45 in a trick compartment under the driver’s seat, a radio pick-up tuned to receive an apparatus called the Homer, and plenty of concealed space that would fox most Customs men.”
Although the appearance of an Aston Martin in Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger did not dictate its appearance in the film version, both the producers and the screenwriters of Goldfinger were convinced that the motion picture needed a car that reflected the character nonetheless. Special effects guru John Stears was consulted and quickly endorsed the Aston Martin DB5 as the perfect vehicle.
He faced two obstacles, however – first, the film had a tight budget, and second, Aston Martin was originally reluctant to lend a car for the film just as Bentley had been with Dr. No. In the end, however, John Stears persevered and even outfitted the vehicle similar to that of the Aston Martin from the book, including a machine gun hidden beneath the blinkers, bulletproof windows, a telephone hidden in the armrest of the driver’s door, and a secret compartment under the seat containing a collapsible rifle.
Both Goldfinger and the Aston Martin were an immediate success, and no other car since has achieved the same attachment to James Bond the character as the Aston Martin. While Roger Moore may never have driven one onscreen, the Aston Martin was the car of choice three times for Sean Connery, three times for Pierce Brosnan, four times for Daniel Craig, and one each for George Lazenby and Timothy Dalton.
Although the Aston Martin may be synonymous with James Bond, it is not the only car associated with 007. While Roger Moore may have shunned the vehicle, for instance, he found his own “Bond car” nonetheless – the Lotus. First introduced in The Spy Who Loved Me, the Lotus Esprit had a sleeker and more modern design that was not only fast on the road but could transform into a submersible “submarine” replete with harpoons, torpedoes, and periscope.
Other vehicles spotlighted in the James Bond film series included the Ford Mustang, Alfa Romeo Alfetta, Maserati Biturbo, and even a BMW. Many of them were on display at the Bond In Motion exhibit at the London Film Museum, and each was easily recognizable to any Bond aficionado. Just like a martini that is shaken, not stirred, the “Bond car” is part of the allure that has made James Bond one of the most successful film franchises of all time.
They say that the clothes make the man, and that may indeed be true – but in the case of James Bond, so does the car.
Anthony Letizia
