3. Ford Mustang Mach 1
Of all the cars James Bond drove, one of the very best was an American muscle car. In Diamonds Are Forever, the spy uses a Ford Mustang Mach 1 to tear through the Las Vegas Strip as a bunch of cops chase him, making for a great scene.
One of the best parts is when he heads down an alleyway that’s too narrow for the car to fit, tips it onto two wheels, and keeps driving as the cops crash.
Funny enough, if you watch the scene carefully you’ll notice the Mach 1 is tipped to one side when it first goes down the alley, then is tipped to the other side when it exits. Apparently someone forgot which side they started out on when filming, but it’s a great scene so we’ll let that little flub go.
2. AMC Hornet
Another American car, the AMC Hornet, was also featured in a James Bond movie. It was in The Man With the Gold Gun when the spy was in Thailand that he tore it up with this little compact vehicle. Bond was chasing Scaramanga when he jumped the car over a river in one of the most memorable scenes from the entire film series. The Hornet rolls a full 270 degrees while traveling 40 feet, and the whole sequence was real (because CGI wasn’t around back then).
What most people don’t know is that filmmakers used a computer model to ensure the jump didn’t end in tragedy. It was the first time a stunt had been plotted using computers of any kind.
The stunt captivated audiences, many of whom had never seen anything like it before. It was set up as a nice publicity stunt for AMC, but the move wasn’t enough to help the automaker survive too much longer.
1. Aston Martin DB5
What would a list of the best James Bond cars be without this one? The DB5 was the vehicle that started out this whole trend of cool cars, so we have it to thank for all those crazy, good times. Filmmakers went with a real looker, instead of trying to modify a production car to look good. In all honesty, the DB5 would have been a classic without the Bond series, but having it driven by James Bond helped spread its fame far and wide well beyond the automotive community.
Producers actually had to do some finagling to get the DB5 from Aston Martin, which was a little unsure about having its vehicle star in an action flick. Thanks to some movie magic, plenty of hidden weaponry, and dramatic scenes, the DB5 isn’t just one of the greatest Bond cars, but one of the most iconic vehicles to ever appear in a film.
