Imagine my surprise when I discovered a secret compartment in the door panel of this vintage auto (photo at right) owned by a certain mysterious customer of mine who I know only as Mr. Bond. Ha ha, just kidding. That is totally not true. Just playing a PhotoShop trick on you. But what is true is I've got an awesome test of your James Bond knowledge. Did you know that there have been six actors to play James Bond in the movies? And of course, each Bond had his signature car, complete with hidden gadgetry, thanks to that ingenious master of gadgets, Q.
To get started with our quiz, let's introduce our six stars.
Beginning with "Dr. No" in 1962 and continuing through 22 movies to 2008's "Quantum of Solace", the six actors who have portrayed James Bond, in chronological order, are: (top row, above) Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, and (bottom row, above) Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.
Now that we have introduced the 007s, lets look at six classic cars associated with each of the Bond stars. I'll give you a car name plus its gadgets and you name the actor that belongs with it. Pretty simple, huh? OK, here goes. Enjoy the cars and the over-the-top gadgets, and at the end I'll match up each car with the actor's face. But don't scroll ahead yet, and don't cheat. Come on! You know this.
1. The Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante started life as a convertible, but Q winterized it with a hardtop and cold weather add-ons such as ice-traction spikes, outrigger skis, bulletproof windows, forward firing missiles, side-firing laser, rocket booster, and if that's not enough, this car can self-destruct! Which Bond drove this car?
2. The BMW Z8 has its engine balancing behind the front axle for practically perfect weight distribution and sports titanium plating, surface-to-air missiles, remote control (via keychain), infra-red tracking and a finely tuned capacity for eavesdropping. This is a spy's car, after all. Can you picture a face to go with this car?
3. The Aston Martin DBS V12 has all the Emergency Room amenities, including an emergency medical kit with a variety of anti-toxins and a defibrillator plus a satellite linkup to call in additional emergency personnel. Which Bond needed to play doctor?
4. The Aston Martin DB 5 is every secret agent's dream car. The seats eject, the license plates rotate and the windows repel bullets. Add to these nifty features front-firing machine guns, rear bulletproof shield, rear-firing water jets, oil slick, smoke screen, homing-beacon tracker and tire-piercing blades and you've got yourself a double-0's best friend! Which Bond claimed this classic car?
5. The Lotus Esprit is a car that only a fish could love. This car converts into a submarine, which is really enough of a special talent, but nevertheless also features rear-firing windshield grease, surface-to-air missiles, depth charges, inkscreen, forward-firing underwater explosive harpoons and auto-self-destruct. Fish tank sold separately. Who was the deep sea Bond?
6. The Aston Martin DBS surely had some groovy gadgets concealed within its sleek lines, but sadly for Bond historians everywhere, these remain unscripted and unknown. However, here's a big hint for you. Apparently the windows were not bulletproof, and poor Mrs. Bond paid the price for that. Who was the married Bond?OK, you have been very patient. Now here are the answers...
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And now at last, the six Bonds matched to their cars.
1. Timothy Dalton, Bond #4, drove the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante in 1987's "The Living Daylights".
2. Pierce Brosnan, the fifth James Bond, was the man in the BMW Z8 in 1999's "The World is Not Enough".
3. Daniel Craig, the sixth and latest Bond, piloted the Aston Martin DBS V12 in 2008's "Quantum of Solace".
4. Sean Connery, the first and original shaken, not stirred Bond, was behind the wheel of the classic Aston Martin DB 5. This vehicle, which established the importance of Bond's car, did not appear until the third Connery Bond film, 1964's "Goldfinger".
5. Roger Moore, Bond #3 and the man in the most films (7*) captained the Lotus Esprit over land and under sea in 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me".
6. George Lazenby, Bond #2, camped it up in the Aston Martin DBS in his only film, 1969's "On Her Majesty's Secret Service".
*Technically, Sean Connery also appeared in 7 Bond films, but one of those, 1983's "Never Say Never Again", was independently produced thanks to a legal loophole, and is not part of the official 22-film series from EON Productions. Not that there's anything wrong with that. So, OK, we'll give Connery and Moore a tie at 7 films each!
Gadget details thanks to the James Bond Wiki.
Call us today at Steve's Auto Service, 973-829-1618 and we'll take care of your car and all its gadgets!
