James Bond’s Coolest Cars Honored In New Coffee Table Book … from Maxim Maxim Staff

(Photography © Max Earey)

Equipped by Q with enough firepower to arm an Apache helicopter and fantastical gadgets that should only exist in sci-fi realms, the souped-up rides of the James Bond franchise aren’t just props, but characters that can steal scenes from everyone but 007 himself. Following James Bond Destinations and James Bond Style, Assouline has rightly dropped James Bond Cars, billed as the most comprehensive published work to feature the 25 films’ automobiles.

The 2002 Jaguar XKR and Aston Martin V12 Vanquish in a scene from “Die Another Day” (DIE ANOTHER DAY © 2002 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists Corporation)

To assemble the fleet, the luxury publisher tapped Chris Corbould, an Academy Award-winning special effects supervisor who worked on 15 Bond films. More than 300 images cover the cars film by film, from the Sunbeam Alpine in 1962’s franchise-birthing Dr. No to the bullet-scarred Aston Martin DB5 in Daniel Craig’s decisive final outing as the superspy in 2021’s No Time to Die.

The Aston Martin DB5’s gadgets (GOLDFINGER © 1964 Danjaq, LLC and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)

Notable highlights in between include the Lotus Esprit that was converted into a working submarine and piloted for the screen by a former U.S Navy SEAL in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, the Renault 11 Taxi that was made to function even after being bisected in 1985’s A View To A Kill, and Aston Martin DBS that was barrel-rolled into oblivion in 2006’s Casino Royale.

The Glastron GT-150 speedboat performing a record-setting jump (estimates run from 95 to 120 5 feet) over a Louisiana highway from a scene in “Live And Let Die” (Photography by George Whitear; LIVE AND LET DIE © 1973 Danjaq, LLC and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)

To make it truly comprehensive, Corbould also included other famed vehicles from the Bond universe, such as the Acrostar Mini-Jet flown across fields and threaded through hangar doors in 1983’s Octopussy and the Glastron GT-150 Speedboat that set a world record when it jumped 120 feet over a highway in 1973’s Live and Let Die.

The bone-cracking high-speed jet boat featured in a chase along the River Thames in “The World Is Not Enough” (THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH © 1999 Danjaq, LLC and United Artists
Corporation)
An Aston Martin DB5-starring scene from “No Time To Die” (Photography by Jasin Boland; NO TIME TO DIE © 2021 Danjaq, LLC, MetroGoldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.)

James Bond Cars will be available as a standalone book with a silk hardcover for $120, but superspy superfans can also get a special aluminum paneled 007 Trilogy Case also featuring Assouline’s James Bond Destinations and James Bond Style with “matte metal plating inspired by the hardware of Q Branch’s most ingenious gadgets” for $595. Look for them on Assouline’s website in November 2025.

(Justin Souza/Assouline)

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