# Have any of Q's "Bond cars" survived the movie they were introduced in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442 "2018-07-23T15:20:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/1 "2018-07-23T15:20:43Z")
I’m not talking about any of the vehicles-Just the ones that Q has assigned to him. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/2 "2018-07-23T15:27:10Z")
Doesn’t the Aston Martin DB5 that Bond has in _Goldfinger_ appear in the next several movies? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/3 "2018-07-23T15:42:45Z")
Elon Musk owns “Wet Nellie”, the Lotus/submarine from _The Spy Who Loved Me_ and wants to make it into a fully functioning submersible as depicted in the film, apparently. The history of the car suggests that its survival was uncertain at best. After the film it was abandoned to a storage locker for a decade and forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/4 "2018-07-23T15:43:51Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Doesn’t the Aston Martin DB5 that Bond has in _Goldfinger_ appear in the next several movies? My first thought. But it crashed at Goldfinger’s Switzerland plant and I can’t imagine Goldfinger’s bunch giving it back to Bond’s people after that. Bond is shown riding around in an identically-equipped Aston-Martin in **Thunderball** , but I have to assume it’s a different one, fixed up with the same gadgets. The International Spy Museum in Washington DC has the Aston Martin used in **Goldfinger** (well, at least one of them – I have to assume they had more than one) [https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/about-the-collection/collection-highlights/bond-car/](https://www.spymuseum.org/exhibition-experiences/about-the-collection/collection-highlights/bond-car/) ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/5 "2018-07-23T15:46:53Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Elon Musk owns “Wet Nelly”, the Lotus/submarine from _The Spy Who Loved Me_ and wants to make it into a fully functioning submersible as depicted in the film, apparently. > > The history of the car suggest that its survival was uncertain at best. After the film it was abandoned to a storage locker for a decade and forgotten. I forgot all about her-I think that she was silliest of all the bond vehicles. By the way, [this Wiki list of Bond vehicles is pretty comprehensive.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_vehicles) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/6 "2018-07-23T15:57:33Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I forgot all about her-I think that she was silliest of all the bond vehicles. > By the way, [this Wiki list of Bond vehicles is pretty comprehensive.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_vehicles) Oh, yeah?! Allow me to remind you of the [gondola hovercraft](https://youtu.be/KWlmUHjuQRo) from _Moonraker_. I don’t know if it has survived, but if so, someone should hunt it down and kill it. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/7 "2018-07-23T15:58:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > I forgot all about her-I think that she was silliest of all the bond vehicles. > By the way, [this Wiki list of Bond vehicles is pretty comprehensive.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_James_Bond_vehicles) The “notes” section on the Aston Martin in _Thunderball_ might give you the impression that the car only appears in the opening sequence, using its water cannons, but it appears later on when Bond is leaving the health clinic, Shrublands, and is being fired on by Count Lippe. Bond opens the armrest and you can see the same options are available as in _Goldfinger_. He’s deciding which to use when Fiona on her motorcycle takes out Lippe’s car. (“Some people on the road really burn you u these days.”) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/8 "2018-07-23T21:16:32Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The “notes” section on the Aston Martin in _Thunderball_ might give you the impression that the car only appears in the opening sequence, using its water cannons, but it appears later on when Bond is leaving the health clinic, Shrublands, and is being fired on by Count Lippe. Bond opens the armrest and you can see the same options are available as in _Goldfinger_. He’s deciding which to use when Fiona on her motorcycle takes out Lippe’s car. (“Some people on the road really burn you u these days.”) It was also in **Skyfall** - pretty sure we are meant to think it was the same one. Same license plate, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2018, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/9 "2018-07-23T21:29:30Z")
I assume you’re talking in-universe? In _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_ Bond’s **Aston Martin DBS** survives the film though that’s seemingly only for it to be there for the twist at the end. In _Goldeneye_ despite being talked up a bunch, the **BMW Z3** Bond is given with stinger missiles in the headlights is only used by Bond in non-action scenes to drive around. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/10 "2018-08-20T03:38:39Z")
You can now get your own 1964 Aston Martin, but it’ll cost you: [A new James Bond Aston Martin for $3.5 million - rotating license plate included | CNN Business](https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/19/autos/james-bond-aston-martin-db5/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/11 "2018-08-20T03:54:27Z")
OP, please clarify. Are you talking about the props used in filming surviving ? Or do you mean the vehicle surviving in the story? ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/12 "2018-08-20T05:52:14Z")
You mean 007 didn’t return them in pristine condition? ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/13 "2018-08-20T13:33:29Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > You can now get your own 1964 Aston Martin, but it’ll cost you: [https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/19/autos/james-bond-aston-martin-db5/index.html](https://money.cnn.com/2018/08/19/autos/james-bond-aston-martin-db5/index.html) Holy cow is that a lot of money for a reproduction! The film-used DB5 from Goldfinger was worth $4.6 million in 2010. That car is essentially unique, or at least one of a very small number of cars used in filming. It’s highly collectible. It can also be street driven anywhere in the world if the owner so chooses. Aston Martin is asking 75% of that price for one of 28 copies of the Goldfinger car that will not be street legal. $3.5 million seems like a lot. The DB5 sold new for 4,195 British pounds, which is about 78,000 pounds today, or almost exactly $100,000 US. Even if you assume that hand-work production costs have risen dramatically, it’s hard to believe that these reproductions are going to cost more than $500,000 to build today. Asking seven times the production costs even for a limited run car like this seems optimistic. Often, when fancy limited production cars like this are announced, the makers will simultaneously say that they have all already been sold. Aston Martin did not announce that. My hunch is that these won’t sell super fast and perhaps not even for the asking price. ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/14 "2018-08-20T13:52:29Z")
The Lotus in _The Spy Who Loved Me_ survived, unless salt water corrosion did it in at a later date. Hopefully bond had it washed after it left the Mediterranean. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/15 "2018-08-20T14:11:33Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Elon Musk owns “Wet Nellie”, the Lotus/submarine from _The Spy Who Loved Me_ and wants to make it into a fully functioning submersible as depicted in the film, apparently. I wish he would confine himself to practical things, like warp drive. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2018, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/16 "2018-08-20T18:00:02Z")
If he keeps crying during interviews, he’s not going to be able to afford to research much of anything: [Worry over Musk’s ‘stability’: Tesla stock nosedives after CEO’s emotional interview – Silicon Valley](https://www.siliconvalley.com/2018/08/17/elon-musk-cries-laughs-and-calls-past-year-excruciating/) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/17 "2018-09-02T03:30:17Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > You mean 007 didn’t return them in pristine condition? Pretty sure the only thing he ever returned in pristine condition was a first-aid kit… ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/18 "2018-09-02T04:03:36Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > You mean 007 didn’t return them in pristine condition? ”Well, you’d be surprised the amount of wear and tear that goes on out there in the field.” Bond trashes Aston Martins in _Goldfinger_, _the Living Daylights_, _Casino Royale_, _Quantum of Solace_, _Skyfall_, and _Spectre_, the Lotus in _for Your Eyes Only_, and various BMWs in the Brosnan era. (I’m not even going to try to distinguish between those films; all I remember is Michele Yeoh being more interesting than literally everything else in one movie, and they guy who had a bullet in his brain that was killing him but made him stronger until it did.) His DB5 in _Thunderball_ survives with only mild bullet damage and slightly used water cannons, and the DBS in _On Her Majesty’s Secret Service_ needs a new windshield and probably a powerwash on thr back seat but is otherise intact. The DB5 Bond drives in his introduction in _Goldeneye_ seems to be intact but probably needs some serious disinfecting. “Wet Nellie” has some moderate seawater damage in the cabin but seemed otherwise intact, and the second Esprit in _For Your Eyes Only_ just has a few bloodstains on the passenger seat, but unlike the Aston Martins the Lotus Esprit has little resale value. Generally speaking, the equipment issued by Q Branch doesn’t survive the film, and he often uses it for the intended purpose, it rarely actually does much to benefit him, or and at best serves to help him escape a predicament a better agent would have avoided getting into in the first place, hence why M is always threatening to replace him with the unseen Agent 008. Bond is actually a terrible agent (and not nearly as good of a driver as he thinks himself) whose real purpose is to distract while the real operators undermine and eliminate global threats with quiet professionalism and unacknowledged success. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/19 "2018-09-02T16:48:35Z")
Spoken like a true patriot, 009. God Save the Queen! ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442/20 "2018-09-04T16:03:04Z")
I thought the Lotus in FYEO got blowed up when the baddies tried to break in (“Burglar Protected”, indeed!). And despite the wink wink nudge nudge, the AM in Skyfall can’t be the same one from Goldfinger, because that would mean that “that other fellow” that looked like Sean Connery was also 007 in the 60s, and that “Bond” is just a code name that goes with the code number 007. But Bond is Bond’s real name in CR and subsequent films. At least, there’s no in-film evidence to the contrary. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-any-of-qs-bond-cars-survived-the-movie-they-were-introduced-in/818442.md?page=2)