Now that the new James Bond film has been released, TERRY SMITH looks back through the models of Bond's famous cars.
Well, the wait is finally over and we can go and watch the latest much anticipated James Bond movie; No Time To Die. This is Daniel Craig's last outing as 007, and, while various Aston Martins turn up in the film along with an assortment of vehicles driven by the baddies, we thought we would take a brief look at other models of Bond cars produced over the years.
Where it all began. The DB5 featured in Goldfinger, released by Corgi in 1965.
We covered the 1965 Corgi Goldfinger Aston Martin in Issue 7 but Corgi have also produced other Bond cars such as the ‘Submarine’ Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me and the Lunar Rover from Diamonds Are Forever.
In 1977 Corgi gave us this submersible Lotus Esprit from The Spy Who Loved Me.
Move on a few decades and Corgi started to produce high detailed models like this Esprit featured in For Your Eyes Only.
Recently, Corgi have been making a whole host of Bond cars featuring much higher detail levels than they did back during the time the original films were released. In the latest movie, Bond drives various Aston Martins dating back to the DB5 and Corgi are making sure you don’t miss out on any of them.
While Corgi, along with Mattel Hot Wheels and companies like Round 2 in the US, have produced many of the cars Bond has driven, the title of the most comprehensive list of Bond car models produced must go to the collector’s part-work simply called the James Bond Car Collection. First released in 2007, by Eaglemoss Publications in the UK, the 1/43rd scale model cars came with a magazine which went into detail on each car released.
These are just some of the James Bond Car Collection from Eaglemoss Publications!
The range reveals many oft-forgotten vehicles featured in the Bond films
The series built up to a massive collection of 133 models plus 3 bonus cars. Who out there, by the way knows which car James Bond drove first on the screen and part of the collection? It was a black 1957 Chevrolet in Doctor No. Maybe, as homage to this, another black ’57 turns up in No Time To Die almost 60 years on.
Like your Bond models a bit smaller? - then look out for the 1/64th scale cars from Hot Wheels.
Round 2 in the US are currently producing this beautiful JB DB5 in the larger 1/18th scale.
I bought this 1/43rd ’57 Chevy in Venice, location of at least two Bond films, a few years back. A real version of the car turns up in No Time to Die.
Although updated form some of the models you see here, Corgi do still produce a wide range of James Bond cars. These two vehicles were featured in the 1964 film Goldfinger. The DB5 seen here is presented in the retro style packaging.
James Bond Rolls Royce Sedance de Ville Goldfinger
James Bond Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger 1960s
Here we see vehicles from the 5th and 6th films in the franchise, another DB5 and the famous gyrocopter ‘Little Nellie’.
James Bond Gyrocopter 'Little Nellie' You Only Live Twice
James Bond Aston Martin DBS On Her Majesty's Secret Service
The Man With The Golden Gun saw the introduction of the AMC Hornet, and we were given an awesome underwater capable version of the Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me.
James Bond AMC Hornet The Man With The Golden Gun
James Bond Lotus Esprit Submarine The Spy Who Loved Me
Jumping forward to the rebooted series where Daniel Craig has taken over, Casino Royal again featured Aston Martins, this time a DB5 and a DBS
James Bond Aston Martin DBS Casino Royale
James Bond Aston Martin DB5 Casino Royale
Finally, right up to date, we have two vehicles from the newest release of the franchise, No Time To Die. This is the first time a motorbike has featured in the Corgi collection of James Bond vehicles.
James Bond Triumph Scrambler 1200 No Time To Die
James Bond Aston Martin V8 Vantage No Time To Die
This is just a highlight of the range, a full list can be found Here, and just remember that this article is indeed For Your Eyes Only.