Although Bond’s Lotus Esprit (opposite) never made it near Las Vegas, it seems very much at home, while the Mach 1 (right) is clearly in its element in the Nevada gambling capital.
The first car chase in a Bond film happened in 1962’s “Dr. No” between Bond in a “borrowed” 1961 Sunbeam Alpine and — of all things — a 1939 LaSalle funeral coach driven by No’s henchmen. Bond slides the Alpine under a crane, the LaSalle can’t follow; it goes over a cliff and explodes for no apparent reason. When a bystander runs up and asks 007 (played by Sean Connery) what happened, he quips in what became his trade- mark gallows fashion, “I think they were on their way to a funeral.” The Alpine was reputed to have been loaned to the producers of the film because it was the only sports car available in Jamaica at the time.
Of the “borrowed” Bond car sub- genre, perhaps the most memorable was the red 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 from 1971’s “Diamonds Are Forever.” In a fantastic chase scene, the great stunt driver Carey Loftin drives on two wheels through Las Vegas (the streets were cleared via a “favor” done by none other than James Bond fan Howard Hughes).
“Diamonds” was possibly the weakest of the Sean Connery Bond films. An out-of-shape Connery had been bribed back into the role after the failure of his replacement, George Lazenby. But it was at least partially redeemed by the scenes in- volving the Mach 1. Corgi, the British diecast toy car manufacturer, even issued a model of the Mustang, an uncommon honor for an unofficial Bond car.
The appearance of a 1971 Mustang in the film gives a little bit of added
collector luster to what was arguably the most controversial of the first generation of the original pony car, the largish 1971–73 version. By the early ’70s, perhaps both Connery and the Mustang had put on a bit of a middle-age spread.
The Roger Moore era of Bond started with “Live and Let Die” in 1973, and while it sported a hench- man driving the Corvorado — a truly bizarre combination of a Cadillac Eldorado and a Corvette — it held little else of automotive interest.
Moore’s next turn as Bond was 1974’s “The Man With the Golden Gun.” And if the placement of the Aston DB5 in “Goldfinger” was the Bond franchise’s golden
LIKE THE DB5, THE ESPRIT CAME WITH MODIFICATIONS FROM Q, THE MOST FAMOUS OF WHICH TURNED THE CAR INTO AN ACTUAL SUBMARINE
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