James Bond 007's Car Is Number 1
by Patricia Montgomery, LincsMag Writer.
Date: 01 December 2010
James Bond’s iconic Aston Martin DB5 has been voted the nation’s favourite famous car according to a poll, in a list dominated by wheels from the silver screen.
Around 3,000 motorists were questioned by elephant.co.uk about their favourite film and TV cars and 007’s gadget-laden Aston came out on top, followed by the Mini Coopers from the original Italian Job and the time travelling DeLorean from Back to the Future. The only TV car in the top ten was KITT from Knight Rider at number seven.
However, there were some differences of opinion between men and women. The men’s top three is the same as the overall one, but women had a different view, choosing the Minis at number one, the DeLorean at number two and Herbie the VW Beetle at number three. Bond’s Aston appeared down the list at number five for women.
The Nation’s Favourite Famous Cars
- 1 James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5
- 2 The Italian Job Mini Coopers
- 3 The Back To The Future DeLorean
- 4 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
- 5 Herbie the VW Beetle
- 6 Knight Rider’s KITT
- 7 Steve McQueen’s Mustang in Bullitt
- 8 Batman’s Tumbler
- 9 Mustang Shelby GT500 in Gone in 60 Seconds
- 10 ECTO 1 in Ghostbusters
elephant.co.uk managing director, Brian Martin, commented, “It’s no surprise to see James Bond’s Aston Martin at the top of the list. It’s stylish, exciting and full of those fantastic gadgets that make the car such an integral part of any Bond film.
“To see so few TV cars in the list is somewhat of a shock, with the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard, the A-Team van and even Trotters Independent Traders’ Reliant Robin missing out!”
People were also asked what their favourite car movie and film car chases were and the Italian Job topped both lists. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Gone in 60 Seconds were second and third respectively for favourite car movie, while The Bourne Identity and Gone in 60 Seconds were second and third for favourite car chase.
LincsMag Editor, Baron Halpenny was surprised that Bullit with its iconic car chase featuring Steve McQueen had not featured in the top three.
Martin continued, “The sight of a trio of Mini Coopers weaving around the streets of Turin is a classic piece of cinema, hence their appearance in all of our lists. It’s really interesting to see the variety of films people consider car classics, pairing family favourite Chitty Chitty Bang Bang alongside adrenaline fuelled Gone in 60 Seconds.”
Aston Martin 1965 DB5
Bond fans can take note that The legendary Aston Martin 1965 DB5 models do come up for auction every so often, one complete with a host of high-tech gadgets, went under the hammer in Phoenix, Arizona in 2006 for USD 2,090,000 by a European collector. When last sold in 1970, it fetched £5,000.
Driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger and Thunderball, the car boasted built-in Browning machine guns, tyre slashers, an oil slick ejector and a retractable rear bullet-proof screen.
Another great chance came this year (2010) when another one of the four cars originally constructed and used for 1964's Goldfinger and 1965's Thunderball came up at the ‘Automobiles of London’ auction. This motor made USD 4,600,000 and goes to show that not just that you can buy an iconic car that was driven by James Bond, but that you have to be ridiculously rich as well.
Air Raising
And it’s not just the Bond Cars that are slowly being priced out of the reach of us mere mortals, this year a Walther pistol (actually an air pistol, rather than a secret agent's deadly weapon) held by James Bond for a classic From Russia With Love image was sold for £277,250.
Apparently this air pistol was used when the Walther PPK automatic pistol failed to turn up for the scheduled photo shoot, but since the photographer had his Walther pistol with him (he was a keen air pistol target shooter) this was used instead. It is said, without telling Connery or the studio representatives.
Oh well, it may not be a piece of memorabilia, but if you like James Bond, the 007 film, You Only Live Twice and you love autogyros, especially Bond’s Little Nellie, then you may be interested in Baron Halpenny’s book, You Only live twice Little Nellie, which at £7.99 is much more in the price bracket for all of us and easier to obtain.
