What car did James Bond drive?

BOND'S CARS

Aston Martin V8

Aston Martin V8, 1985

  • Manufacturer: Aston Martin
  • Model: V8
  • Variant: Series 4 ("Oscar India")
  • Years manufactured: 1969-1989
  • Type: coupe
  • Origin: UK


The Aston Martin V8 was available in standard and high-performance Vantage versions. The Vantage featured engine modifications (changes to camshafts, compression ratio, valves, manifolds and carburetors) for increased power output, but the cars are visually difficult to distinguish from the standard version. On Series 4 models, Vantages are identifiable by flared wheel arches.

During the twenty years of manufacture, Aston Martin produced 4,021 of these cars across the various variants including coupe, Volante (convertible) and Vanquish.

The Living Daylights

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James Bond drove his Aston Martin V8 on assignment in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia

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James Bond in his Aston Martin V8 was chased by Czech police through the mountains

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James Bond escaped across a frozen lake in his Aston Martin V8

Cast

In the movie The Living Daylights, James Bond is issued a 1985 Aston Martin V8 which carries British registration plate B549 WUU. In the first half of the movie the car is a convertible (an Aston Martin V8 Volante was used to film those scenes); after being "winterised" by Q Branch, the car reappears as a hardtop coupe.

Three 1985 Aston Martin V8 coupes were used in the production of these winter scenes. One was an unmodified V8 used for filming scenes with Timothy Dalton, the second was a stunt car and the third was the special effects car fitted with Bond gadgets. These were standard Series 4 "Oscar India" variants of the V8 model, not the Vantage.