While watching the newly released James Bond film, Skyfall, it’s hard not to think about the many European luxury cars featured in each 007 film. As a tribute to beautiful cars and great film-making, here’s a list of the best cars to have appeared alongside Bond on the silver screen.
During the early Bond years, filmmakers used an array of different English sports and luxury cars. The first movie, Dr. No (1962), featured a light blue Sunbeam Alpine from 1961. A year later, when From Russia With Love was released, a Bentley Sports Tourer appeared at the beginning for just a few moments. In 1964, filmmakers used black Mercedes 194 coupes to pursue Bond during the chase scenes.
Throughout the 70s, a wide range of cars were used. From the AMC Hornet Hatchback in The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) to the Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), the featured cars all offered something new and unique to each storyline.
It wasn’t until the 80s that a BMW, Mercedes and VW were part of the action. In 1983 during Octopussy (1983) a black Mercedes 250 SE was used in two different scenes. These were the first BMWs to be used by the Bond franchise.
Then, in the later 1980s, Audi 200 Quattro was featured with stone-grey metallic paint. In the same movie, The Living Daylights (1987), a Land Rover stunt scene was where the car flew over a cliff and exploded was included.
When BMW purchased Rover Group in 1994, Bond filmmakers decided it was time to use a BMW as Bond’s official car. This was the first time his designated vehicle had been German, and they used a BME Z3 Roadster. The film, GoldenEye premiered in 1995.
More recently, in Quantum of Solace (2008), a Jaguar XJ8 and a VW Beetle were both used in the film. And finally, in Skyfall, Bond’s infamous Aston Martin makes an appearance. Although, there are always cameos from other luxury European cars scattered throughout the films!
