Throughout the James Bond series of films Q Branch has given Bond a wide variety of vehicles with which to battle his enemies. Among the most noteworthy gadgets Bond has been equipped with have been various vehicles that have numerous modifications to include weapons systems, anti-pursuit systems, alternate transportation modes, and various other functions.
Featured in The Man with the Golden Gun. Bond steals this car in Thailand, unknowing that Sheriff J.W. Pepper was in it looking to test drive it. A Hornet was also used for the famous twisting corkscrew aerial jump that was captured in just one filming sequence.[1] A special modified car performed the stunt with a lower stance and larger wheel wells (just as the Astro Spiral Javelin stunt cars that performed that same jump in AMC sponsored thrill shows) compared to the stock Hornet X model in all of its other appearances in the movie.
The featured car in The Man with the Golden Gun. Francisco Scaramanga and Nick Nack use this car to kidnap Mary Goodnight and make their escape. In the film, the Matador coupe is converted into a 'car plane' to fly from Bangkok to an island in the China Sea. However, for the aerial sequences, it was replaced by a meter-long (39-inch) remote-controlled model. See Aircraft section below.
The Bamford & Martin 1.5 litre Side Valve Short Chassis Tourer was James Bond's first car. He inherited it around Easter 1933 in the first Young Bond novel SilverFin from his uncle Max at the age of thirteen. Bond regularly drove the car, although he was underage, and stored it in a nearby garage while he attended Eton. The car was destroyed in the third Young Bond novel, Double or Die, in December 1933 leading Bond to replace it by purchasing the Bentley Mark IV shortly thereafter in the same novel.
Featured in five films (Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, a small appearance in Tomorrow Never Dies, and Casino Royale – to this list can be added The World Is Not Enough, though shots of the DB5 being driven to MI6's Scottish HQ were cut, leaving its only appearance a confusing satellite image at the end of the film). In the novelisation of GoldenEye it is stated that Bond purchased the DB5 as his own personal vehicle, although the 2006 version of Casino Royale, which reboots Bond film continuity, shows Bond winning it in a game of poker in The Bahamas; as such the Casino Royale version of the vehicle is the only one that is not outfitted with special equipment (Brosnan's DB5 is shown to have special features in GoldenEye). The DB5 also made cameo appearances in the comedy film, Cannonball Run, driven by Roger Moore's character, and in the TV-film The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E., George Lazenby, playing a Bond-like character referred to as "JB", drives a DB5 (with the licence plate "JB"). It also appears in numerous other films in association to Bond including a small cameo in Catch Me If You Can (2002) where the main character purchases one to be like Bond and The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004) in which Geoffrey Rush, playing Peter Sellers, is shown driving one at the time of making Casino Royale, even though in real life that film did not feature the vehicle. A model is currently on display in the International Spy Museum in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Bond drives a DB Mark III, which is referred to as a "DB III" in the novel Goldfinger. The "DB3" was a car designed specifically for racing and is unlikely that Bond would drive one. The DB Mark III is often called the DB III and is more comparable to its description in Fleming's novel. This car was the only gadget-laden vehicle to be mentioned in the original Bond novels, though Fleming generally avoided gadgetry in his books. It included switches to alter the type of color of the front and rear lights, reinforced steel bumpers, a Colt .45 pistol in a trick compartment under the driver's seat, and a homing device similar to the DB5 in the film.
Based on DB5 [2] no special gadget was visible other than the secret compartments which housed Bond's Walther P99, and an emergency med kit which includes components of an emergency medical link to MI6 HQ, antidotes to various poisons and a small defibrillator.
There has never been a Bentley model known as the 'Mark IV'. Not by the 'old' W.O. Bentley firm, or by Rolls-Royce after the takeover of Bentley Motors in 1931. The 'Mark IV' appellation seems to have been a creation by Ian Fleming, and erroneously perpetuated since. Contrary to the films, James Bond's official car in the Ian Fleming novels was a grey 1933 Bentleyconvertible. The car featured a 4.5 L engine with the Amherst-Villierssupercharger. In the novels, no gadgets were installed as this was Bond's personal vehicle that in Casino Royale is mentioned as being a hobby that Bond enjoys working on. Its only armament, in the novels, is a .45 Colt Army Special revolver Bond keeps in the glove compartment. The novel version of the Bentley Mark IV was destroyed during a chase sequence in Moonraker. The Bentley is also the very first Bond vehicle seen in the film series, although it was shown very briefly during Bond's first scene in From Russia with Love and mentioned only in passing in Goldfinger. In From Russia with Love, the only gadget known to be included was a car phone, which in 1963 was very uncommon. The film version of Goldfinger strongly implies that the Bentley was issued to Bond by Q-Branch when he asks Q about the vehicle, only to be told that it had "had its day" and is given the Aston Martin instead.
Note: In Casino Royale Fleming writes that Bond bought the car "almost new" in 1933 and had it stored during the war, which is mentioned in the Young Bond novel Double or Die. In Live and Let Die Fleming states the automobile's year as 1933, however in Moonraker Fleming states it's from 1930. This earlier date is the correct one, as the Bentley 4.5 Litre ceased production in 1930.
Made in 1953, Bond purchases his second Bentley towards the end of the novel, Moonraker. Like his previous Bentley, the Mark VI is grey with dark blue leather upholstery. After Moonraker this model is never mentioned again.
Bentley Mark II Continental
This Bentley was featured in the novel Thunderball and is Bond's final Bentley. Bond upgrades the engine from a 4.5 L engine to a 4.9 L. The Mark II was also grey; however, the interior was black leather. The Mark II Continental is last seen in the novel On Her Majesty's Secret Service where Bond upgrades the vehicles once again with an Arnott supercharger controlled by a magnetic clutch. Bond dubs the car "the locomotive".
Bond purchases a Mulsanne Turbo in John Gardner'sRole of Honour. The car is British racing green with magnolia interior. It is outfitted with a long-range telephone and a hidden weapon compartment.
Ford Fairlane briefly driven by Bond during his visit to Cuba in Die Another Day. A homage to Thunderball where villain Count Lippe drives a 1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner. As a punishment for failing to dispose of Bond, Lippe is killed in his Fairlane, which is blown up by villainess Fiona Volpe using rocket launchers mounted on her BSA motorbike.
Bond's vehicle of choice in many of the John Gardner Bond novels, beginning with Licence Renewed. Dubbed, "Silver Beast" [3], it is Bond's private vehicle modified by the real-life company Communication Control Systems, Ltd. (CCS) (now called Security Intelligence Technology Group [[4]]). He also rents a 900 in Nobody Lives For Ever (1986) and No Deals, Mr. Bond (1987).
Live and Let Die:(Two 1973 Chevrolet Novas are seen as police cruisers.) West German police BMW 5 Series pursue Bond after his theft of the vehicle in Octopussy.
It was fitted with BBS split rims and flared wheel arches made by the German tuning company Abt Sportsline.
Citroën 2CV in For Your Eyes Only. A car belonging to Havelock. The car used in the movie was allegedly fitted with a Citroën GS 4-cylinder boxer engine (in place of the standard 2-cylinder boxer), to make it able to outrun the two Peugeot 504s in pursuit.
Featured in GoldenEye. Xenia Onatopp playfully races James Bond in his Aston Martin DB5 by chance on the mountain roads behind Monte Carlo in this vehicle, which is later revealed to have false French registration plates, hinting that it may be stolen.
Featured in The Man With The Golden Gun, This tan MGB is owned by Hong Kong's MI6 agent Mary Goodnight. She & Bond follow Andrea Anders in her dark green Rolls-Royce; they end up at the Peninsula Hotel where Bond discovers that they have a fleet of dark green Rolls-Royces.
A custom black Studebaker convertible with a Cadillac engine, plus special transmission, brakes and rear axle, owned by Felix Leiter in the novel Diamonds Are Forever. The combination of the aerodynamicRaymond Loewy designed body with the powerful Cadillac engine made it into a remarkable sports car. Studillacs were not fictional, but actually built by a Long Island, NY company called Bill Frick Motors from 1953 Studebaker Starlight bodies.
Featured in Dr. No. Bond drives to Miss Taro's home in the Blue Mountains; he is pursued by Dr. No's thugs driving a LaSalle hearse. It is a Lake Blue example that was owned by a local resident in Jamaica where the scenes were filmed. In the novel Dr. No, Bond drives the car that formerly belonged to Commander Strangways, the murdered agent in Kingston. It is also driven by Quarrel.
Featured in You Only Live Twice. Owned by Aki. Toyota built two convertibles especially for the film. One is displayed at Toyota's headquarters today while the other is currently not known.
Featured briefly in Live and Let Die and later in The Spy Who Loved Me. In Live and Let Die, Bond and Rosie use this vehicle to drive to the harbour to meet Quarrel Jr. In Spy, the crew of the Liparus supertanker use a Mini Moke in their defence against a break out by the submarine crews. Also seen in Moonraker where Bond and Dr. Goodhead are hiding in a trailer (prior to boarding Moonraker 6 as pilots) after escaping from an air vent during Moonraker 5's launch.
Featured in Octopussy. Two of these basic auto rickshaws are used in a chase sequence through the streets of Udaipur — Bond and fellow MI6 agent Vijay being in one, with Gobinda and his henchmen in the pursuing vehicle. It is insinuated that the auto rickshaw driven by Vijay has been modified by MI6 as the tone of the engine becomes more like a motorcycle and Vijay performs a wheelie, exclaiming "This is a company car!"
Featured in A View to a Kill, Bond commandeers this car and takes it on a pursuit through Paris. During the pursuit the car has its roof chopped off and then later the entire back half of the car is ripped off.
In Ian Fleming's Live and Let Die, Bond takes the car from Felix Leiter after he is injured and drives it down to the docks to get into the wild shootout with the Robber. Although this is improbable, as Cord marquee folded in 1937.
Featured in A View To A Kill as a San Francisco P.D. patrol car. A few late 1970s Dodge Monacos were seen, along with a Plymouth Volaré seen outside San Francisco City Hall. Late 1980s Diplomats were also featured in Licence to Kill as the squad cars in Key West, Florida (some may have been identical Plymouth Gran Furys).
The Cayenne Turbo featured as secondary vehicle for all-terrain conditions in the computer game Everything or Nothing which is available on several games consoles.
Featured in Casino Royale, Bond purposely crashes it in a hotel parking lot to serve as a distraction. A black version of the Range Rover Sport is one of the cars used by Le Chiffre's henchmen.
Featured in Thunderball. A rocket pack based on the Bell Jet belt.
Bell helicopters had previously been seen in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, Diamonds Are Forever, Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, and Moonraker.
Skyfleet S570
A "prototype" plane featured in Casino Royale, actually a Boeing 747-200 originally used by British Airways as "G-BDXJ", but retired after flying for Air Asia and Malaysia Airlines. It was refitted with two mockup engines on each inner pylon and external fuel tanks on the outer pilots, somewhat anachronistically resembling a B-52 Stratofortress.[2]
