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 Octopussy. 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 bullet 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 bullet 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.