This year marks the 60th anniversary of the first James Bond film, ‘Dr No’.
Since then, six actors have played 007 and each one has driven a host of vehicles.
The villains too have had their fare share.
But of the plethora of insanely cool cars from across the franchise, which ones are the best James Bond vehicles?
Well, this is what we think…
1. Aston Martin DB5
Films: Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Spectre and No Time to Die.
READ MORE: James Bond exhibit has all of the coolest cars from the films
Easily the most recognisable of all of the cars in the 007 franchise, the legendary Aston Martin DB5 first made its debut back in 1963’s ‘Goldfinger’.
The car itself was still in the design phase when filmmakers approached Aston Martin about it. They were given the prototype of the car and bought another one that could be kitted out with all the latest gadgets that Q branch would have in the film.
Those included revolving number plates, a bullet proof rear windshield, oil slick dispensers and the famous passenger ejector seat.
READ MORE: If you want to get into James Bond movies, start with these 6
The DB5 contained a 3,995 cc engine with a maximum speed of 145.2 mph, going from 0- 60 mph in 7.1 seconds.
It was worth around £4,175 at the time, nearly £85,000 in today’s money. Although it costs a lot more today.
In the film, 007 used it to track Goldfinger across Europe and it sadly met its end when Bond crashed it into a brick wall.
Bond did get a chance to use several of the gadget features on the car beforehand.
Having featured in more 007 films than any other vehicle, it remains one of the most famous cars in cinematic history.
Check out this story of the time the DB5 was stolen…
2. Lotus Esprit
Film: The Spy Who Loved Me
As Roger Moore’s 007 takes evasive action to get away from Stromberg’s henchmen on the coast, he does the unthinkable. Bond drives the Lotus Esprit straight off the end of a jetty.
And this Lotus is far from ordinary.
The wheels retract and are replaced with fins and rudders for underwater steering.
The dashboard converts to become a submarine control system and four retractable propellers emerge from the car.
Thanks to Q, it’s also equipped with a cement sprayer, torpedoes, bullet proof windows and a periscope.
Just like that, one of the most iconic and best James Bond cars was born.
3. Little Nellie
Film: You Only Live Twice
If the Aston Martin DB5 is the most recognizable Bond vehicle, then ‘Little Nellie’ surely comes in a close second.
Designed by Wing Commander Ken Wallis, the autogyro was somewhere between a glider and helicopter.
It has an upwards thrusting propeller – unlike a helicopter – and the upward prop lifts air in much the same way as a glider.
It had a 1,634 cc engine with a maximum speed of 130 mph. The 3.4 meter long (excluding the rotors) machine could travel from 0-96 mph in just 12.5 seconds.
In the film, it was equipped with two fixed machine guns, two forward firing rocket launchers, two heat seeking, air to air missiles, two smoke ejectors and aerial mines.
Standard equipment really.
All of these features came in handy as Bond investigated a nearby volcano before he was ambushed by agents of S.P.E.C.T.R.E.
Needless to say, ‘Little Nellie’ performed admirably and saw off Bond’s attackers with little trouble.
4. Aston Martin V8
Films: The Living Daylights, No Time to Die
When Timothy Dalton took over as 007 in 1987, Aston Martin returned to the franchise.
This time, they supplied Bond with a gadget filled Aston Martin V8.
The 4.67 meter long car had a top speed of 146 mph and could go from 0-60 mph in 6.6 seconds.
As Bond and Kara Milovy make for the Czech border, he deploys some of the car’s toys to help them make a speedy getaway from their pursuers.
These included retractable outriggers, snow tyres, a rear jet engine booster, twin heat seeking missile launchers and front hubcap laser beams notably used to disable chasing police cars.
The V8 also returned in 2021’s ‘No Time to Die’ as 007 travelled through parts of London and Norway.
5. Toyota 2000 GT
Film: You Only Live Twice
A modified car issued to members of the Japanese secret service, the nifty little Toyota is
used several times during Connery’s fifth outing as 007.
As a spy car, it had several modifications including a small colour TV that also acted as a surveillance monitor.
With hidden cameras on the front and rear of the car as well as communication equipment to
contact headquarters with, the Toyota 2000 GT was much more than met the eye.
The communications system was used in the film to call for back up which led to Osato’s
henchmen being lifted from the road by a giant magnet attached to a helicopter.
Naturally.
The 2000 GT was in production for only three years from 1967-1970.
It’s powered by a 2.0 Litre front mid engine with rear wheel drive and has the choice of a five speed manual
gearbox or a three speed automatic gearbox.
The version used in the film was specially made because of Connery’s height so the roof was taken off and the roofless version was born.
Back in 2015, Daniel Craig also voted the car as his favourite of all the best James Bond cars.
6. Tank T54/55
Film: GoldenEye
One of the most iconic scenes from the film – and indeed the franchise – is the tank chase
around St. Petersburg.
For the six weeks that it took to film the sequence, some of it on location and the rest at Leavesden, the production team used a Russian T54/55 tank with added reactive armour panels.
It normally weighs 36 tonnes – usually when it’s not balancing a statue on top of it like in the chase scene – and stands at a height of 2.40 meters.
It had a top speed of 30 mph but this was more than enough for Bond to stay on the tail of General Ourumov.
If you haven’t seen this chase scene before, you’re welcome.
7. Glastron GT-150 Speedboat
Film: Live and Let Die
Although not a car, we couldn’t go past this one.
Used in the film for a record breaking 120 foot jump, the Glastron GT-150 was front
and centre during the middle of ‘Live and Let Die’.
The jump was performed over 100 times before the actual take was shot that was used in the film.
As Bond makes his escape from a crocodile farm (where else?) which is being used as a cover to make heroine, he comes across the boat and sets off down the rivers of Louisiana.
Powered by an Evinrude Starlite 135 hp engine, the boat soon comes to the attention of Sheriff J.W. Pepper and the State Police who proceed to pursue Bond.
Notable Mention for other iconic Bond vehicles include the Sunbeam Alpine (Dr. No), the 1937 Rolls Royce III (Goldfinger), the Mercury Cougar (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service) the Citroen 2CV (For Your Eyes Only) and the Q Boat (The World is Not Enough).
