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Fancy a Bond car on a budget? Then read on
http://www.classicandsportscar.com
Russell Campbell|
(October 2012)

Insurance company Hagerty has compiled a list of attainable Bond cars for fans that can’t stretch to an Aston Martin DB5 (currently valued at around £300k) and chief among them is the Lotus Esprit.

The mid-engined junior supercar had arguably the most memorable car chase in Bond to date – out-running a helicopter before leaping into the sea, transforming into a submarine, shooting down the chopper and re-emerging on a crowded beach. Hagerty reckons a good one could be yours for £9200.

For a lot more – and arguably less Bond factor – a 1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 (as seen in Diamonds Are Forever) could be yours for £16,300. Other Bond cars highlighted by the insurance firm include the Sunbeam Alpine Series II (£9700) from Dr. No, the 1974 AMC Hornet (£1200) from The Man With The Golden Gun, the Alfa Romeo GTV6 (£4400) from Octopussy and the BMW Z3 (£4250) from GoldenEye.   

We thought it was a fun exercise so reproduce Hagerty's full list below. We would also like to hear your nominations for other candidates.

1971 Ford Mustang Mach 1 – Diamonds are Forever (£16,300)
The ’71-73 Mustang was arguably the most controversial of the first-generation Mustangs. Still great looking but quite a bit larger than its predecessors, as was Sean Connery in 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever. You could argue that both Connery and the Mustang had put on a bit of a middle-aged spread.

1961 Sunbeam Alpine Series II – Dr. No (£9700 )
The Sunbeam Alpine was said to be the only sports car available to the producers of Dr. No when they were shooting in Jamaica. A little softer and more luxurious than a Triumph or an MG of the day, the Alpine was stylish and well-built.

1974 AMC Hornet – The Man with the Golden Gun (£1200)
AMC stepped up in a big way when The Man with the Golden Gun was in production with some very prominent product placement. In the famous scene, Commander Bond commandeers a new Hornet from an AMC showroom in Hong Kong. Mayhem ensues. Not many AMCs of the era survived in part because Chrysler disposed of large numbers of spare parts after buying AMC.

1981 Alfa Romeo GTV6 – Octopussy (£4400 )
Alfa Romeos are great driver’s cars and the great stunt driver Remy Julienne put the new six-cylinder GT to good use in a chase scene in the movie Octopussy after Bond swipes the car and heads off the detonation of a nuclear bomb. GTV6s are among the greatest collector car bargains available now. A starter Ferrari for under five grand.

1977 Lotus Esprit S1 – The Spy Who Loved Me (£9200)
After the famous Aston Martin DB5, the white Lotus Esprit is probably the sexiest and most recognised Bond car. In the movies, the Lotus was capable of transforming into a submarine and offing the helicopter henchwoman of the villain with missiles that shot out of the trunk. In real life, a bad Esprit is capable of doing villainous things to your bank account. Pay up for a good one. They’re surprisingly reasonable.

1996 BMW Z3 – GoldenEye (£4250)
The little Z3 roadster was BMW’s entry into the convertible sports car world. They did it with a bang from a marketing standpoint and this little bit of product placement into Pierce Brosnan’s debut as 007. Sales of the Z3 spiked, and even today, Z3s in the James Bond colors of blue and tan bring a little bit more on the used car market.

1997 BMW 750 IL – Tomorrow Never Dies (£3950)
BMW owned product placement in the Bond franchise during the early Brosnan era (strange to see a British spy driving a German car, but money talks). The Seven Series was and is the ultimate BMW executive sedan. This version was the last of the pretty ones before controversial stylist Chris Bangle remade the BMW line in his bizarre image.

1969 Mercury Cougar XR7 – On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (£14,700)
The red Cougar (which appeared to be a 428 Cobra Jet XR7) wasn’t actually driven by Bond, but by his future wife, the exciting but unstable Tracy Di Vincenza, played by Diana Rigg. Even though Bond didn’t actually drive it, the car garnered the most screen time of any car in the movie (far more than Bond’s Aston Martin DBS), and Tracy drove it with the skill and verve of Bond himself.

1980 Lotus Esprit Turbo – For Your Eyes Only (£11,500)
Q, Bond, Lotus and Lotus’ customers all thought that the basic Esprit was in need of more power and that’s precisely what the Esprit got in the form of an exhaust driven turbocharger. It catapulted the car from a junior supercar to a real heavyweight capable of taking on the best from Italy without resorting to eight or 12 cylinders. Bond’s car was fitted with a rather extreme anti-theft/anti-tamper device. The car exploded when the villain’s henchman tried to break in.

2002 Aston Martin Vanquish – Die Another Day (£65,000)
The DB7 was a very nice car with a price tag that was competitive with the top of the line Mercedes SL of the day. The Vanquish was Aston Martin’s return to true supercar status, so it was a natural that when Bond returned to Aston Martin after several movies in the woods with BMW the Vanquish would be his ride. While anything but cheap, through the miracle of depreciation, a car that once pushed 200 grand can now be had for about £65,000. Not bad for a true James Bond Aston Martin.

 
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