We all lust after cars we can't have, but how about wanting cars that don't exist? Well, OK, maybe some of these cars exist in stock form, but when did you last operate an oil slick or machine gun from your driver's seat? Had pontoon skis pop out of your rocker panels? Asked, "Can you swim?" and drove off the end of a dock? Lost an unwanted passenger via ejector seat? Of course, we all know one man who has all of these "usual refinements" and more available, and he has been around for quite some time now.
In 1944, Ian Fleming (1908-1964), at his estate in Jamaica named Goldeneye, began writing the first of 13 novels about a fictional secret agent named after ornithologist James Bond, who wrote "Birds of The West Indies." Of course, the movies differ significantly from the books, but the movies have become an institution in their own right, to the point that we all have our favorite 007 film and actor. EON Productions, who made all the Bond films, is an acronym meaning "Everything Or Nothing;" Albert R. "Cubby" Broccoli (1909-1996) literally bet the farm on "Dr. No" in 1961, released in 1962. His family, in Italy, crossed cauliflower and rabe to make the vegetable that bears their name.
I started this James Bond mini car/vehicle/aircraft/submarine/moon buggy collection in March 2008 when my buddy Shawn told me that the Walgreens drug store chain was selling James Bond cars made by Corgi. The Corgi and Bond names are both well-known and respected, of course, so I instantly knew the marriage would be a good one. I was not disappointed. I can't believe that some of these cars, perhaps the finest of the collection, sold for as little as $7. The Lotus Esprit may be the best of the bunch as far as both quality and quantity of its operating features. One button releases propellers, fins, and wings for underwater navigation, while another fires rockets to get rid of an uninvited guest. The tiny DB5 offers a working ejector seat ("You're joking, 'Q'?"), rear metal bulletproof screen, and pop-out front machine guns and battering rams. Sorry, no nail ejectors.
Some of these vehicles do little but sit and look cool, like the bronze 
Lotus from "For Your Eyes Only." There is a wrecked Citroen 2CV from that same film available, but I found the undamaged one first, and could not justify buying both of them. Maybe I'll "wreck" this one. Also, Auric Goldfinger's 1937 Rolls-Royce 111 SEDANCE De VILLE sits proudly in finely-detailed glory with Odd Job tipping his bowler hat to a lady. The 1974 AMC Matador reveals its copper hue in stationary repose. In the "For What It's Worth" department, a helicopter has been featured in every Bond film.
Online, these things just keep popping up ... but I have to stop somewhere, as my bank account pales compared to Willard Whyte's. Seems the more obscure the car is, the more pricey it becomes. For example, the Ford Thunderbird from "Goldfinger" costs around $50 with shipping, though I'd really like to have the black Lincoln Continental that took the unfortunate Mr. Solo to his pressing engagement. Please look close in the movie as the Lincoln is carried to the crusher and you'll see there's no engine in it, and maybe not even a firewall!
I thought about listing each car individually here, but hoped it would be more fun if you tried to name each one and the film(s) it is from. They are obviously in no particular order, and yes, one is upside down, somewhat true to its place in movie history. Another is supposed to be on two wheels. The Corgi cars are 1:36 scale, while the cars from Universal Hobbies are a smaller 1:43 scale. A few more here are an unknown scale. If there are any questions about any of the models, please feel free to ask, or send an email to Miss Moneypenny.
The most famous James Bond car of all has to be the tricked-out Aston Martin DB5, which has made its way into five of the 22 Bond features so far. The films and the car have gone together so well that they each helped make the other the successes that they are today. Mine is equipped with revolving license plates valid in all countries; bullet-proof windscreen, side windows, rear window, and rear metal screen; an audio-visual display tied to a magnetic homing device with a range of 150 miles; armrest controls for left- and right-front fender machine guns; a smoke screen; an oil slick; retractable tire shredders; passenger ejector seat; and 3-point nail ejectors. The nails were cut from the films because they might have given kids the wrong kind of inspirations. All this, and still room in the boot for a jet pack.
The James Bond films are one of the most successful franchises in movie history. Each new story and car chase faces the challenge of meeting and exceeding the one before. Though The Cold War ended some time ago, EON Productions, now guided by Cubby's daughter Barbara Broccoli, has faced the challenge of creating new challenges with great success. And with the help of Aston Martin and other marques, our favorite secret agent on Her Majesty's Secret Service will no doubt thrill us for some time to come.
"The James Bond Films" and "The Complete James Bond Movie Encyclopedia", both by Steven Jay Rubin, were the sources of technical and other information for my blabber.
--That Car Guy (Chuck)
Steaming Pile on April 24, 2009 at 05:13 AM
Interesting trivia tidbit. Albert Broccoli's family invented broccoli. I love broccoli, and I think that's so cool.
Cookie the Dog's Owner on April 24, 2009 at 06:46 AM
The original Bond DB5 is in the International Spy Museum in Washington, as part of the permanent exhibit.
Movie Car Maniac on April 24, 2009 at 08:07 AM
Only a true Bond fan would have the "Man with the Golden Gun" car upside down and the "Diamonds are Forever" car on two wheels. Nice collection.
Chuck on April 24, 2009 at 08:09 AM
I just found this link that lists all Bond cars, even including "Quantum Of Solace", the latest 007 film:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_vehicles
John B on April 24, 2009 at 10:45 AM
Trivia....what cars did Ian Flemming drive?
A T-Bird, then a custom painted black Studebaker Avanti, which he thought was a much better car than the T-Birds.
The largest colection of 007 film cars is at the "Stars of the Stars" Museum in Keswick, England. He has several of the Lotus Esprits, two Astons (neither used in the film but used for PR by the film studio...one of the originals was stolen).
It's owned by a friend and a great place.
BTW: the Aston at the Spy Museum, I believe it was leased from the Engish museum, however they may have sold it to the Spy museum.
Finally, I see the "You Only Live Twice" gyrocopter Corgi model...
If you'd like one autographed by its builder/pilot, I can tell you where to get it for aboiut $20...the procedes go to a small non-profit UK aircraft museum.
jboyle on April 24, 2009 at 11:02 AM
The Websites for the two museums mentioned above:
www.carsofthestars.com
It has a complete list of all their Bond film cars...and others in the collection...Emma peel's Lotus Elan, "The Prisioner"'s Lotus 7, the "drive on two wheel" Bond Mustang, the original Barris Munster Coach, one of Magnum's Ferraris, etc.
For the autographed Corgi model of the gyrocopter:
www.aviationmuseum.net
jjw on April 24, 2009 at 01:22 PM
I didn't see a Triumph Stag... Diamonds are Forever... I believe it was Mimosa Yellow...
That Car Guy on April 25, 2009 at 09:42 AM
I found a Triumph Stag, but it's small, in Australia, and they want $50 for it, shipped. Maybe Hugo Drax can give me a loan. ;)
...m... on April 26, 2009 at 12:12 AM
...excellent collection!..
...seeing the auto rickshaw from octopussy reminds me - we just returned from two weeks in vietnam, and while there kept joking about how much more entertaining tomorrow never dies' faux-saigon R1200C chase would have been with a naturalistic take: james bond and wai lin leap from the alley onto a 125cc underbone scooter and proceed to wade through honking rush hour, with the CGMN goons beeping along behind in a furiously close pursuit amongst the teeming throngs, at all of about five miles per hour...
Rob the SVX guy on April 26, 2009 at 10:47 PM
Hey, FYI, not sure what's going on here but the picture of all the cars is making the entire carlustblog.com site load really really really slowly. It's just the pictures in this post, not any other post.... is something different about them?
That Car Guy on April 27, 2009 at 05:56 AM
Rob, I haven't noticed any delay. If anybody else has this problem, please let me know.
The pic was taken with a Nikon D40X, 10.2 megapixels, but has been cropped a bit. Maybe your comp can't load the image quickly. But I have heard no other complaints.
Jason on April 27, 2009 at 01:50 PM
Nice collection. I like the Toyota 2000GT and the Benz that drove on the train tracks. Did Corgi ever make an MGB like the one Ms. Goodnight drove (beige)?
That Car Guy on April 27, 2009 at 01:56 PM
Jason, they sure did! But like the Triumph Stag and Lincoln Continental, the more obscure the Bond cars, the less features they have and the more they cost. If I find an MGB and Stag for less than $40 shipped, I will definitely buy them.
By the way, I just finished a post on the MGB Series. Stay tuned!
Steve on April 28, 2009 at 06:48 AM
I just purchased my personal (attainable) dream car, a silver BMW Z3 like the one featured in Pierce Brosnan's first outing, "Goldeneye". Thankfully five years newer and a lot more powerful than the woeful car featured in the movie.
Rob the SVX guy on April 28, 2009 at 08:19 PM
Did you resize it at all? I think what is happening is that it is downloading the 10 meg file, then resizing it. Perhaps cropping the image to something acceptable, like 1200pixels wide, would fix the issue. My computer is a 24" iMac with a C2D and I have a DSL connection, and a T3 connection at school. Lags both places.
Mark Goddard on April 24, 2010 at 06:56 PM
007 drove a 355?
That Car Guy on September 28, 2010 at 09:52 PM
Mark, are you THE Mark Goddard of "Lost In Space" fame? If so, I met you in 1978. Please see my post here about The Chariot.
No, the 355 was drizen by Xena (sp?) Onatopp in "Goldeneye."
shravan on October 26, 2010 at 01:40 AM
i very much like these cars