Every James Bond film since the franchise began had featured something to entice the motoring enthusiast, from cars featuring unbelievable gadgets to the latest super-swanky models of car and high speed chases. These are five of the best, and worst, cars that 007 has driven through the years.

Triumph Stag

If you’re looking for the worst car Bond has driven, it would be difficult to find a contender quite like the yellow Triumph Stag from 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. This was intended to be a luxurious sports car and rival the Mercedes Benz, but its 3-litre Triumph V8 engine overheats constantly. In the movie, Bond drives it to Holland, but in reality it would probably break down before he managed to get anywhere close.

Renault 11

This car from A View To A Kill (1985) is only marginally better than the Stag, and features in an absolutely ludicrous (though weirdly entertaining) scene where Bond keeps driving it after it’s been cut in half during a chase. It’s one of the few cars that is improved by being sliced in two!

Alfa Romeo GTV6

This is the car that Bond steals from a car park in Germany during Octopussy, to race to her circus and defuse a bomb that is ready to explode. Despite not being particularly special to look at, this is actually a middle-ranking Bond car, with some impressive specs.

BMW 75OIL

This car has a short, but memorable scene in Tomorrow Never Dies, as Bond employs a bullet-proof version to escape baddies armed with machine guns in the 1997 film. With an engine that lets it comfortably outstrip the chasing Mercedes, and a sleek, appealing design – this is definitely close to being the very best car choice that Bond has made during his lengthy career behind the wheel.

Aston Martin DB5

The top Bond car of all, and the one that made an appearance on the list of best Bond vehicles compiled by Ladbrokes, is this utterly iconic vehicle. The Aston Martin DB5 is the car associated with 007 by most people, having been first introduced (complete with ejector seat) by Q in 1964 hit Goldfinger. This classy car, in its distinctive silver-grey colour, has since been used in a number of other Bond movies and its 3,995cc Tadek Marek I6 engine and ZF five-speed transmission remain no slouch even in 2015.

The launch of new film Spectre later in the year has already got Bond and car fanatics eagerly anticipating the vehicles that will appear, and whether they will be ultra-modern or classic.

Tags: alfa romeo, aston martin, BMW, renault

Alan is a concept-cars.org founder editor.
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