007 of the best James Bond drives

Road Trips

Feb 1

“Do you expect me to walk?” “No Mr Bond, I expect you to drive.”

We might be paraphrasing a few lines from Goldfinger here, but since we have to wait until October for Bond to be back in No Time to Die, we figured that we could kill some time by revisiting these classic 007 car chase spots.

001 Goldfinger: Furka Pass, Switzerland

In pursuit of Auric Goldfinger in his massive Rolls-Royce, it’s on the high Furka Pass in Switzerland that Sean Connery’s Bond in his Aston Martin DB5 literally runs into Tilly Masterson and her Ford Mustang. The road itself is much changed since the filming Goldfinger, with barriers and a better surface installed, but the views are no less spectacular, with its hairpins sweeping out beyond the mountainside a particular highlight. Detour has driven the Furka Pass twice in a Mazda MX-5 and a classic Alfa Romeo Giulia. Third time lucky in Aston?

002 Diamonds Are Forever: Las Vegas, USA

Bond’s Las Vegas detour in Diamonds Are Forever is best known for a rather massive continuity gaffe, where, eluding hapless pursuing cops, 007 pops his Mustang up on to the two passenger-side wheels to squeeze through an alley, only to emerge on the driver-side wheels. Cue post-production comedy camera tilt flip which convinces a grand total of nobody. The Las Vegas strip is unrecognisable today with prominent casinos like the Pioneer long since gone, but is still a must-stop stop on any US road trip.

003 The Spy Who Loved Me: Sardinia

Lotus PR boss Don McLauchlan pulled off quite a coup when he parked the brand new Esprit prototype outside Pinewood Studios one morning. The head of special effects on the The Spy Who Loved Me took notice and Lotus soon sent a car to Sardinia for filming. Lotus director of vehicle engineering Roger Becker was dispatched to look after the car and coach the allocated stunt driver. In the event it was Becker who ended up behind the wheel, doubling for Roger Moore. “They asked me to bring the car up for a certain shot, so I drove it as was natural for me,” said Becker. “I screamed up the road, and the assistant directors were jumping up and down yelling, ‘That’s how we want it! Why can’t we get him to do the driving?’ And so I did it.” Should you wish to follow in his tracks then take the Strada Nacionale 55 near Cala del Bollo. Just remember to stop before you reach the sea.

004 Tomorrow Never Dies: Brent Cross Shopping Centre, London, UK

James Bond movies are known for their glamorous locations. So you may be surprised to learn that the most spectacular driving sequence in Tomorrow Never Dies was actually filmed in a suburban North London shopping centre car park. The multi-storey at Brent Cross doubled up for a parking complex in Hamburg where Pierce Brosnan’s Bond has to evade the henchmen of evil media baron Elliot Carver. Fortunately his BMW 750i L is equipped with a full remote control system driven off his chunky Ericsson mobile and this is a unique chase where 007 never actually sits in the driving seat. As for the location, you can pay a visit any time you need to pick up some new kitchenware or fast fashion.

005 Casino Royale: Millbrook Proving Ground, UK

At Montenegro’s Casino Royale (which was actually in the Czech Republic) Bond’s love interest and Treasury Agent Vesper Lynd is kidnapped by terrorism banker Le Chiffre and 007 gives chase speeding through the pitch black countryside of… Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire. He spies Vesper dumped in the middle of the road and swerves his Aston Martin DBS to avoid her, rolling the car seven times and setting a Guinness World Record in the process. Millbrook is mostly used by car makers for prototype testing but is occasionally open to the public for events, where the safety briefings are, understandably, taken quite seriously.

006 Skyfall: Highlands, Scotland

After Severine Silva attacks M in Parliament, Bond needs to get his boss out of London to somewhere he can protect her. “Where are we going?” asks M. “Back in time,” replies 007 as the pair head north in Bond’s Aston Martin DB5. Cut to the Scottish Highlands and Bond’s childhood home of Skyfall and the breathtaking road to Loch Etive. The road is 12.5-miles long, beginning at the junction with the A82 and ending in a small car park at the loch. It’s narrow, bumpy, twisty and home to one of the most memorable Bond final acts ever filmed.

007 Spectre: 007 Elements, Austria

Is a car chase really car chase if the vehicle being pursued is, in fact, a plane? Let’s not dwell on semantics and instead focus on the scene in Spectre where Bond sledges down an Austrian mountainside in a aircraft, chased by bunch of bad guys in Land Rover Defenders. It’s a corker of a sequence and one that you can re-live by visiting the interactive 007 Elements Experience, 3,000m up at the end of a cable car ride in Sölden. It’s an amazing, immersive exhibition in an incredible setting and you could always combine your visit to Austria with a drive on the awesome Grossglockner or Kaunertal Glacier roads. It’s a mission you should definitely accept as soon as possible.