Project Petrolhead

News broke recently that the James Bond franchise is now under the total control of Amazon Studios. And I do mean “total”, since Daniel Craig’s explosive departure at the end of No Time to Die means that Bezos and his team get to pick out a whole new cast for 007’s next adventure (presumably casting himself as Blofeld, given that he’s a bald billionaire with a fleet of rockets on standby). I’ll be honest, I’m not that interested in who gets cast, I’m sure they’ll do a decent job, what I am interested in however, is what the next Bond is going to drive.

Aston Martin have been synonymous with Bond for decades, and for good reason. Between the iconic DB5, Dalton’s beautiful V8 Vantage and Craig’s barrel-rolling DBS, some of the most iconic car scenes in Bond film history have carried a pair of enamel wings on the nose. But no more! I’m not saying that the current crop of Astons is bad, far from it, the DB12 and Vanquish look excellent and the Valkyrie is an incredible feat of engineering, despite being as subtle as a brick to the face, it’s just time to let somebody else have a go.

The obvious joke would be to say that Bond should drive… ooh, I don’t know… a dark blue Mercedes Sprinter that he leaves parked in the middle of a busy road while he throws a parcel behind Moneypenny’s bins, but I intend to do a deeper dive than that. Let’s start with Lotus. Of course, Lotus has form with Bond. Every child remembers seeing a submerged Esprit and thinking “wow, I wonder if our car can do that!” shortly before dropping a Corgi model into the bath, so why wouldn’t the next Bond rock up to Casino Royale in a white Emira? It’s the most modern looking lotus for a while and it’s even got a proper interior, but with classic Lotus driving dynamics and a good slug of performance from it’s supercharged V6.

Book Bond fans will be disagreeing with me. In the original novels, our boy Jimmy didn’t drive a Lotus or an Aston, instead he drove a 1930s Blower Bentley. So why not update this to the modern era and get Bond behind the wheel of a Continental GT? Well, because he’d look like a footballer, I suppose. On the upside, the Conti has a stonking powertrain and a gorgeously luxurious interior. If only you could lose the whiff of premier league. Well, good news! The Bentley Flying Spur exists! Take a Continental, add some wheelbase and two extra doors and voilà! All the good bits of the GT, but with none of the image problems.

Back to the movies for inspiration then. In Daniel Craig’s Spectre, Bond is the custodian of an Aston Martin DB10, a concept car designed specifically for him by the big AM. So, in that vein, why not set the next Bond up with another cool concept, like for instance, the Jaguar Type 00. Classic GT car silhouette with all the modern gadgets and gizmos that Q branch could fit! Then again, given the enormously overblown negative reaction to Jaguar’s modern output, it’s probably best to avoid associating Bond with it. At the very least, I’d have to hear less middle-aged men being angry about it on the internet. Always a bonus.

Let’s go right back then. All the way back to the first movie: 1962’s Dr No. People tend to forget that the first car Bond drove on screen wasn’t an Aston, Lotus or even a BMW, but a Sunbeam Alpine. A small, lightweight, two-seater British drop-top with a four-cylinder engine and sporty handling. Unfortunately, there aren’t many British-built sports cars anymore. The Jag F-Type is dead, the Aston Vantage is now firmly planted in supercar territory, Lotus don’t currently build a convertible, and a Caterham is probably a bit too bare-bones for secret agent purposes. There is, however, one option for MI6 that ticks every box: The Morgan Supersport. A lightweight aluminium chassis, a punchy 335bhp twin-turbo straight six, a classic 60s aesthetic and, in true Q branch fashion, high-tech bells and whistles hidden beneath a stylish minimalist fascia.

Whoever the next Bond ends up being, I only have one suggestion: Get yourself down to Malvern!