Every Car James Bond Has Driven Besides An Aston Martin

James Bond‘s cars are almost as iconic as the actors who play him, and while he’s best known for driving Aston Martins, he’s driven many other models throughout the franchise’s nearly sixty-year history. Usually these cars are sleek, sophisticated, and expensive. Oftentimes, when issued as part of his official business, they come equipped with gadgets tailor-made to the character’s unusual line of work, like complex missile systems or self-detonation contingency plans. Sometimes they’re unremarkable daily drivers he steals in the heat of the moment.

Regardless, cars are an integral aspect of the James Bond universe. They offer a glimpse into what was already on the road – and what was being pushed onto the market – at the time of a given film’s release. Product placement deals and a necessary allegiance to Britain’s extensive array of auto manufacturers dictate some of these choices, but many seem to have been chosen for their looks and status alone.

The most celebrated Bond cars have been his Aston Martins, but in reality they make up less than half of what he’s driven over the years. Here’s a breakdown of the other vehicles that James Bond has gotten behind the wheel of and/or destroyed throughout his career.

1961 Sunbeam Alpine

The first film in the series, 1962’s Dr. No, has Bond-originator Sean Connery in an open-top 1961 Sunbeam Alpine. This appearance marks the first time we see Bond driving a car himself, as opposed to riding in a chauffeur-driven vehicle. The Alpine series used for the film was the part of the first generation of mass-produced cars the coach-builder made, so Bond’s being behind the wheel referenced this car’s significance for the Sunbeam line.

1935 Bentley Mark IV

One year later, in 1963’s From Russia With Love, Connery’s Bond can be seen using the car phone in a 1935 Bentley Mark IV. The car doesn’t appear again but gets mentioned in Goldfinger, when Q tells him the car has seen better days before issuing him an Aston Martin DB5.

1965 Lincoln Continental

In 1965’s Thunderball, Bond rents a 1965 Lincoln Continental in the Bahamas. While the previous model year Continental makes an appearance in Goldfinger, we don’t see Bond himself driving one until this movie. A far cry from the slick, small sports cars we’re accustomed to seeing him drive, the Continental nonetheless did its job, and its famous suicide doors certainly popped on-screen.

1967 Toyota 2000GT

You Only Live Twice, released in 1967, saw Connery’s Bond behind the wheel of history in the making. The Toyota 2000GT was a milestone in automotive design and completely changed the international market’s view of Japanese automakers. The car’s appearance in the film was a bit of a logistical feat, as only a few pre-production concept vehicles had been made at the time of the film’s production, and Toyota had only planned to produce hardtops. According to Supercar Nostalgia, franchise producer Albert Broccoli engineered the car’s appearance after he glimpsed a GT at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1965. Toyota was enthusiastic about the collaboration but Sean Connery’s size prohibited him from fitting in the car comfortably. To accommodate the actor, Toyota manufactured a single roadster – the only factory-produced open-top edition of the GT ever made.

1971 Ford Galaxie 500

Even spies need practical cars sometimes. In 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery once again returned to his classic role and can be briefly seen driving a rented Ford Galaxie 500. Unflattering yet inconspicuous, the large family sedan’s appearance in the film was the result of a product placement deal with Ford, which likely also contributed to the appearance of a Mustang Mach 1 in the same film.

1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1

The Mustang Mach 1 was a high-performance variant of the standard Mustang, first introduced in 1969 and given a facelift for 1971. As if the muscly fastback needed to impress anymore than it already does, the Mach 1 was used in a hair-raising stunt for the film in which Bond, fleeing some cops, drove the car on two wheels down a narrow passage between two buildings.

1970 Triumph Stag

As a counterpoint to the two Fords in Diamonds Are Forever, Bond drives a 1970 Triumph Stag from England to Amsterdam. The car really belongs to a diamond smuggler named Peter Franks, but Bond briefly pretends to be Franks following his arrest and uses the car to complete the image.

1963 Chevrolet Impala

1973’s Live and Let Die was the first Bond film to star Roger Moore. Early in the film he pairs up with CIA Agent Rosie Carver, and the two rent a 1963 Impala convertible to drive to dictator Dr. Kanaga’s compound.

1974 AMC Hornet

Detroit automaker AMC constitutes an important chapter in the history of American car manufacturing, producing a number of stylistically significant vehicles in its heyday between the 1950s and 1970s before the company was essentially scrapped for parts to Renault and Chrysler over the course of the 1980s. At the height of AMC’s success they struck a product placement deal with the Bond franchise, which resulted in Moore’s Bond stumbling on an AMC dealership in Bangkok. Bond steals an AMC Hornet and a fully-sponsored chase ensues when Bond takes off after Francisco Scaramanga, the film’s villain, in an AMC Matador Coupe. Bond demonstrated the alleged performance capabilities of the Hornet by spiral-rolling across a river using a damaged bridge as a ramp before abandoning the car later in the film.

1976 Lotus Esprit S1

It may not be an Aston, but Bond reaffirmed his preference for British carmakers in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me when he turned a 1976 Lotus Esprit into a submarine. The car already looked like something from the future, and while its amphibious capabilities were pure fiction, it certainly left a mark on audience’s imaginations.

1981 Citroën 2CV

In Moore’s fifth Bond feature, For Your Eyes Only, he escapes from hitman Hector Gonzalez’s (Stefan Kalipha) villa after Melina Havelock kills him with a crossbow. The two take off together in Melina’s adorable Citroën 2CV, or “deux chevaux-vapeur,” which translates to “two steam horses” – a unit derived from the engine’s power used in French automotive bureaucracy to determine the tax due upon a vehicle’s registration.

1981 Lotus Esprit Turbo

Bond once again got behind the wheel of a Lotus Esprit for 1981’s For Your Eyes Only. The car was once again equipped with some custom features, but instead of being submersible this model was combustible. Equipped with a self-destruct system consisting of four dynamite packs attached to magnetic seals and vibration sensors, the car exploded after an enemy henchman inadvertently set off the sensitive security system.

1981 Alfa Romeo GTV6

The Lotus Esprit is absent from 1983’s Octopussy, but it returns in spirit in the form of a 1981 Alfa Romeo GTV6. The boldly designed coupe was significantly more affordable than the Lotus, but its design was based on a concept by the Esprit’s designer Giorgetto Giugiaro (h/t James Bond Lifestyle). The Alfa didn’t have any of the high-stakes features the Lotuses sported, but it did allow Bond to make it to the circus in time after he stole it from an unsuspecting phone booth customer.

1968 Mercedes-Benz 280 S

Having made it to the circus in time to convey some important information to a NATO general, Bond takes off in pursuit of the circus train in this rather unathletic car. However, it outperformed expectations when he drove it on top of the railroad tracks. It met an unfortunate yet expected end after being destroyed by an oncoming train and thrown into a river. It was later recovered, albeit covered in seaweed, but Bond had already escaped.

1980 Range Rover Rapport Huntsman

Hardly the first custom vehicle built for a Bond film, the three-door Land Rover convertible is nonetheless memorable. The car isn’t too significant to the plot, but features prominently in Octopussy‘s opening sequence. The custom Rover was done by Rapport Ltd., a London company specializing in Range Rover conversions.

1937 Bentley 4.5 Litre

In 1983 Sean Connery returned to his role as James Bond for Never Say Never Again, and James Bond returned to his roots by driving a 1937 Bentley Drophead coupe. Similar to the car Connery used in From Russia With Love, it appeared even more elegant and antiquated 20 years later when it was nonetheless still a classic.

1983 Ford LTD

1985’s A View To Kill featured Roger Moore behind the wheel of a a 1983 Ford LTD. The car didn’t have any special gadgets and wasn’t used for any stunts. If it was the result of another product placement deal with Ford, it appears to have backfired, as the car is currently featured in several “worst Bond cars” lists.

1983 Renault 11 TXE

Also in A View To Kill, Bond gets in another rather unthrilling car- a 1983 Renault 11, which he steals from a Paris cabdriver. He performs a number of high-stakes stunts in the car, launching over a bus and racing through the narrow city streets before slicing the vehicle’s roof off by blowing through a parking barrier. Shortly after that he gets hit from the side, blowing the car’s rear end off and leaving one-fourth of the vehicle behind with Moore still behind the wheel.

1986 Audi 200 Avant/1986 Audi 200 Quattro

1987’s The Living Daylights was the first Bond film to star Timothy Dalton, and the first to feature Bond driving an Audi. He actually drives two Audis in the film, but both are variants of the Audi 200 – one a sedan, and one a hatchback. The first he uses to escape from Bratislava with General Koskov, while the second he uses in Morocco.

1987 Lincoln Mark VII LSC

1989’s License to Kill again featured Dalton as Bond, and showed him driving a Lincoln Mark VII coupe. While the car was rather flashy and powerful, many found it incongruous with James Bond’s image.

1995 BMW Z3

GoldenEye was the first Bond film to star Pierce Brosnan and the first to feature a BMW. The Z3 was BMW’s first mass-market roadster, and its appearance in 1995’s GoldenEye was the first of BMW’s three-film deal with the franchise. It featured a self-destruct system like the Lotus Esprit, and stinger missiles behind the headlights, but is only used briefly before Bond trades it for an airplane.

1997 BMW 750iL

The second installment of the Bond-BMW partnership came in 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies. Brosnan’s Bond receives a 750iL from Q, a far cry from the compact roadster he drives in GoldenEye, but nonetheless refined and eye-catching. Unlike the Z3, whose special spy features were only alluded to and never used, the 750iL gets put through its paces when Brosnan operates the car from a remote device while lying down in the backseat to avoid being shot. He escapes the vehicle before it soars off a parking garage and crashes, appropriately, into an Avis office.

1999 BMW Z8

The third and final Bond BMW was a 1999 Z8 featured in The World Is Not Enough from the same year. The Z8 was a limited production high-performance roadster and is highly sought after to this day. Bond’s was equipped with remote operation, missile systems, and a targeting system, but gets destroyed by a helicopter in Azerbaijan.

1986 Lada Niva

The World is Not Enough also featured the Lada Niva, a Russian-built compact SUV not unlike a Mini. Its role in the film was proportional to its stature.

1957 Ford Fairlane

Most remember 2002’s Die Another Day for the flashy vanishing Aston Martin Vanquish, but the film also briefly featured a blast from the franchise’s mid-century past. Bond acquires the classic convertible from Raoul, a sleeper agent in Cuba, when he asks for a “fast car.” Whether or not he gives Bond the Fairlane as a joke or if it’s actually a sleeper remains unsaid, but the car constitutes a nod to Havana’s famous car culture as well as a fulfillment of the franchise’s product placement deal with Ford.

2006 Ford Mondeo Concept

That Ford deal continued in 2006’s unusual remake of Casino Royale, the first Bond film starring Daniel Craig. He rents this car upon his arrival in the Bahamas, and it was oddly eye-catching, bearing a striking resemblance to the Aston Martin DBS he would acquire later.

2005 Range Rover Sport

Almost immediately after valet parking the Ford, however, he steals a Range Rover Sport and purposefully crashes it into a row of cars.

1989 Ford Bronco II XLT

As the Fairlane’s appearance in Die Another Day demonstrated, Ford’s product placement deal with the Bond franchise is not limited to new models and concepts. in 2008’s Quantum of Solace, Bond hops in an unattended Bronco II XLT from 1989 at the end of a heated boat chase. Small trucks like this were common in the late ’80s and early ’90s prior to the advent of crossover SUVs.

2008 Ford Edge SEL

Ford must have wanted to show off its current lineup in contrast to older offerings like the Bronco, because Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), the main antagonist in Quantum of Solace, has a fleet of 2008 Ford Edges. The Edge, which is based on a small car platform, is exactly the kind of car that replaced models like the Bronco II, which shared platforms with pickup trucks. Bond steals one of Greene’s Edges and uses its trunk door to disarm a henchman, demonstrating its capabilities.

2008 Range Rover Sport

True to his origins, Bond once again hops behind the wheel of 2008 Range Rover Sport in Quantum of Solace– at the time the most current iteration of the iconic British SUV. He picks up the car in Bolivia and drives it into the desert before exchanging it for an airplane.

2008 Volvo S40

Back in Europe, Bond rents this compact Volvo sedan to drive in Austria. Given its airport origins the car features no exciting add-ons, but it’s well-suited to its setting.

2011 Jaguar XJ

M (Judi Dench) is seen being driven around London in the back of a long-wheelbase Jaguar XJ throughout 2012’s Skyfall. Bond himself, again played by Daniel Craig, gets a chance to take it for a spin when he escapes with M in the back following Silvia’s botched hit. True to form, however, Bond quickly exchanges it for an Aston Martin DB5.

2010 Mercedes-Benz S 300

Also in Skyfall, Bond once again finds himself behind the wheel of a giant luxury sedan, this time a Mercedes, when he briefly poses as a driver at Shanghai airport in pursuit of Patrice (Ola Rapace). The S300 sedan is a classic limousine used around the world and serves as the perfect cover for Bond to move around the area without arousing suspicion.

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Due to the number of product placement deals and the coincidence of the series with one of the most prosperous eras in the automotive industry, James Bond’s cars are a window into car culture. Aston Martins are most closely associated with the franchise due to their unique design, real-world scarcity, and frequent appearances throughout the films. But James Bond, as resourceful as he is stylish, is ultimately no stickler for sticker price. In a pinch, any car will do. That said, he certainly prefers to impress.

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