FIVE OVERLOOKED JAMES BOND VEHICLES
05 October 2021
As No Time To Die, Bond Film No. 25, is due for release at the end of the month, here is a short tribute to five, often overlooked, 007 vehicles:
Dr. No 1962: Chevrolet Bel Air
Trivia question; what was the first car 007 drove on screen? It was not the famous Sunbeam Alpine Series II, but a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air despatched by SPECTRE. N.B. The Chevrolet appears to have the dashboard of a 1957 Ford Fairlane…
From Russia with Love 1963: Bentley 4¼ Litre Vanden Plas Drophead Coupé
A brief but memorable appearance from a 1938 Bentley was the only time a Bond picture featured the marque he favoured in Ian Fleming’s novels.
Thunderball 1965: Morris Minor 1000 Convertible
Time has not been kind to Thunderball; the plot meanders, and the underwater sequences appear interminable. However, this is the only 007 film to date in which Bond rides in a Minor 1000 Convertible. The film’s main automotive star may have been the DB5, but the 1964 Morris plays a short but memorable cameo role in Nassau.
Live and Let Die 1973: AEC Regent III
Aka the film that allowed Roger Moore to channel his inner Reg Varney by having him take the wheel of an ex London Transport an AEC Regent double decker. The main bus, a 1947 RT246, was repainted blue and departed Pinewood Studios for Liverpool Docks on 19 September 1972, together with a backup vehicle RT2513. Some of the onscreen driving is from the London Transport instructor Maurice Plachett.
Including the famous ‘low bridge’ moment. Moore subsequently wrote in his memoirs: “I remember that day well: it was 7 December 1972, on location in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and I had to drive it under a low bridge, sheering off the top deck. Maurice Patchett from London Transport’s Chiswick depot spent three months preparing for the stunt, including taking me on a crash course – forgive the pun – on the Chiswick skid pad.”
The actor was informed, “if the film game didn’t work out for me, I’d make a good London bus man. That would have pleased my mum, who still lived in hope I might one day get a proper job”. And on the day of the stunt:
“Maurice took over the driving as the bus headed for the bridge; the top deck had been carefully removed and replaced only on rollers, to ensure a relatively clean detachment as it hit at precisely 30 mph”.
For Your Eyes Only 1981: Citroën 2CV
The great stunt driver Rémy Julienne took pride in making everyday cars perform extraordinary feats. When the producers of Bond Film No, 12 asked him what would be the most ridiculous car for 007 to drive yet still cause panic with the villains’ his response was ‘the 2CV’. Work began on the film in 1980, with Julienne employing a fleet of Mimosa Yellow Citroëns equipped with roll-cages and powered by GS engines. He also suggested the heavies use 504s rather than Mercedes-Benzes as the Peugeots were better suited to Corfu’s roads.
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