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The James Bond film franchise has been running for more than half a century now, so it is unsurprising that it is littered with icons such as the Walther PPK, expertly designed suits, beautiful women and vodka martinis that are shaken, not stirred. Perhaps the most memorable icons of them all however are the methods of transportation that the super-spy chooses to make use of. 007 has driven a wide variety of vehicles, ranging from the much loved Aston Martins to aircraft and submarines. There are, however, some rather odder choices that Bond has used on occasion which are well worth a second look.
The Lotus Esprit S1
One of the wackiest cars ever seen in a James Bond film, the Lotus Esprit S1 was featured in the 1977 Roger Moore classic The Spy Who Loved Me. This particular vehicle was half car and half submarine, capable of transforming from one to the other at just the touch of a button. The S1 was also capable of combat, equipped with a wide array of weaponry for Bond to employ including surface to air missiles, torpedoes, an ink dispenser to blind undersea pursuers and even a cement sprayer! Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, purchased the iconic vehicle in 2013.
The Citroen 2CV
The Citroen 2CV may not be a souped-up super-car like the Lotus Esprit S1, but it still makes a more than memorable appearance in 1981’s For Your Eyes Only, another classic Bond film from the late, great Roger Moore. The bright yellow vehicle’s small size comes in handy for Bond, as it is able to move quite nimbly through narrow countryside roads and even trees, giving him a handy advantage despite being pursued by much more powerful Peugeot 504s. A special edition of the vehicle was launched by Citroen in the early 80s in a bid to capitalise on its appearance in the film, complete with bullet hole stickers and 007 door markings. However, while the film version had a much larger engine taken from the Citroen GS to give it extra power, the special edition still retained the standard flat-2 engine.
The Aston Martin
The most iconic Bond vehicle remains the Aston Martin, which made its debut as the DB5 model with Sean Connery back in 1964’s Goldfinger, and subsequently appeared in the following year’s Thunderball, 1969’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (with Bond one-shot George Lazenby), three of the Pierce Brosnan movies, Goldeneye in 1995, Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997 and The World Is Not Enough in 1999, as well as two of the Daniel Craig films; 2006’s Casino Royale and 2012’s Skyfall, where the vehicle was destroyed. The classic vehicle was laden with different gadgets, such as rear-facing water cannons, a bullet screen, revolving numberplate, an oil slick device and wheel blades.
The more modern version of the Aston Martin that is still around today appeared in the final Brosnan Bond movie, 2002’s Die Another Day. It not only had a cloaking device rendering it practically invisible, but also target-seeking shotguns, a passenger ejector seat, a reinforced chassis, rockets and retractable tire spikes.
The Jaguar XKR
DAD also featured a version of the Jaguar XKR, driven by villainous henchman Zao, and had its own gadgets including a thermal imager, miniature missiles, front ramming spikes, mortar bombs and a Gatling gun!
