The cars that made 007 a superstar
Michael Schumacher ended his career winning seven world championships, but 007 has appeared in 21 films - with six different macho roles - and continues to work hard.
Over the past quarter century and 21 official films, Bond has been the target of more bad guys on wheels than anyone else in film history, yet he has always managed to escape without a scratch.
And he often turned the enemy around with vehicular tricks of some kind, from hidden machine guns on a 1960s Aston Martin to an 80s Lotus Esprit that turned into a submarine, and even a remote-controlled BMW 7 Series. in the 90s.
Now he's back to the noughties and doing it again in the remake of Casino Royale, which hit theaters just before Christmas. And he is back in Aston Martin, just like in the early days.
The buzz around the new 007 movie got me thinking not only about Bond's wheel system in the latest British supercar, but also about my childhood dream car: the Aston Martin DB5 scale model that Bond drove in the 1960s.
It came with all of Bond's gear - spinning license plates, concealed machine guns, tire cutters, a bulletproof rear shield and even an ejection seat.
In 1965, Corgi released a scale model of the DB5 with gadgets, and by 1968 it had sold almost four million copies.
It remains the most famous Corgi model and I couldn't afford it.
The 21st century Casino Royale release sparked a lot of talk about 007, cars and movies.
The model building machine is already running again with scaled-down copies of the DBS and even redesigned - but no gadgets - replicas of the original DB5. And this time, there was a tiny Aston in my Christmas stocking.
It's worth seeing what the Bond cameos have done for car companies.
BMW benefited greatly when it signed a multi-movie deal that started with its little Z3 convertible. The first time the world saw a car was when Bond drove it on the big screen. That deal has continued with the Z8 convertible, the controversial 7 styling, and even the BMW motorcycle.
But then Britain bounced back for Pierce Brosnan's final appearance as Bond when he got back into the Aston and the villains strapped themselves onto a rocket-powered Jaguar.
This time Agent 007 is driving a gorgeous new DBS, and there's even a special look for the original DB5.
For the television series Top Gear, a survey was conducted on the most popular car chase in the history of Bond films. And the winner is... no, not Aston. Not Jaguar, not Lotus, not even one of the BMWs.
The first choice was a crazy little Citroen 2CV that suffered all sorts of punishments, including being cut in half while being driven by Roger Moore in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only.
Four-wheeled film partners:
Dr. No (1962): Sunbeam Alpine, Chevrolet Bel Air convertible
From Russia with Love (1963): Bentley Mark IV
Goldfinger (1964): Aston Martin DB5, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes 190SL, Lincoln Continental, Ford Mustang convertible, Rolls-Royce Phantom III
Thunderball (1965): Aston Martin DB5, Ford Mustang convertible, BSA Lightning motorcycle, autogyro.
1967 "You Only Live Twice": Toyota 2000 GT, BMW CS
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): Aston Martin DBS, Mercury Cougar, Bentley S2 Continental, Rolls-Royce Corniche
Diamonds Are Forever (1971): Ford Mustang Mach 1, Triumph Stag, moon buggy
Live and Let Die (1973): London double-decker bus, Chevrolet Impala convertible, MiniMoke
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974): AMC Hornet and Matador, Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977): Lotus Esprit, Wetbike Concept, Ford Cortina Ghia, Mini Moke
Moonraker (1979): Bentley Mark IV, Rolls-Royce SilverWraith
For Your Eyes Only (1981): Citroen 2CV, Lotus Esprit Turbo, Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith
Octopussy (1983): Mercedes-Benz 250 SE, BMW 5 Series, Alfa Romeo GTV
Kind of Murder (1985): Renault Taxi, Ford LTD, Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, Chevrolet Corvette C4
Living Daylights (1987): Aston Martin DBS and V8 Vantage, Audi 200 Quattro
License to Kill (1989): Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Kenworth fuel truck
GoldenEye (1995): BMW Z3, Aston Martin DB5, Russian tank, Ferrari 355
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997): Aston Martin DB5, BMW 750iL, BMW R1200C motorcycle
The World Is Not Enough (1999): BMW Z8, Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
Die Another Day (2002): Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar XKR, Ford Thunderbird Convertible
Casino Royale (2006): Aston Martin DBS and DB5, Jaguar E-type Roadster, Fiat Panda 4×4, Ford Transit, Ford Mondeo
