Branding Bond, James Bond.

[Kirk H.]

THe nicest car I've seen any Bond drive was Connery's 1937 Bentley 4.5 litre, in Never Say Never Again. I believe this model was chosen for various reasons, not least that it is what Bond drove in the original books?

You are right and I forgot about that movie. I remember when it came out because there were two Bond movies out in the theater, that one and Octo*****. It is not one of my favorites due to that fact that it was a remake of Thunderball. I just saw the trailer for the new one, Skyfall which looks good and the car appears to be an Aston Martin.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

Bond's yellow 2CV from "for your eyes only"...

 

[Edward]

Bond's yellow 2CV from "for your eyes only"...

I remember seeing Yellow 2CVs in Citroen garages around that time, with big 007 logos on them, and fake ****** holes up the sides.

 

[Joao Encarnado]

I remember seeing Yellow 2CVs in Citroen garages around that time, with big 007 logos on them, and fake ****** holes up the sides.

Yes, Citroen made a special 2CV 007 edition. The cars used on the movie had Citroen GS engine, the 007 edition had the normal 602cc engine.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Has anyone mentioned the Sunbeam Alpine from Dr. No? I thought that was an interesting choice.

 

[McMurdo]

While I've never been a Roger Moore fan, for me Sean Connery was Bond, I think a mention of the submersible Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me is warranted

http://www.lotusespritworld.com/EOtherstuff/Submarine.html

 

[Jaguar66]

The Aston Martin DB5 was the second choice for the James Bond car. The original choice was the Jaguar E-type.

Aston Martin was director Chubby Broccoli's second choice. Jaguar had just introduced the E-type, a sleek and fast sports car that took the public by storm at its unveiling at the Geneva motor show. The production company asked for three E-types to be used in Goldfinger. Since sales were brisk, Jaguar could not keep up with the public demand for it's new E-type. Sir William Lyons refused to give up any of the coveted E-types. Aston Martin jumped at the opportunity and history was made. Aston Martin and James Bond are an indelible piece of movie history.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

No one has mentioned the Wallis WA-116 autogyro, aka "Little Nellie," from You Only Live Twice.

 

[Rathdown]

How about the Toyota 2000GT convertible?

In the books Bond drives a 4.5 liter blower Bentley and a 4.5 liter Bentley R-type Continental. Both the Continental and the Bentley in "Never Say Never Again" (a 4.25 liter car, by the way) were built by Rolls-Royce after they acquired the assets of the Bentley Company in 1931.

I've been fortunate enough to own both a DB 5 and an R-type Continental, and I can certainly appreciate Bond's automotive evolution.