"The Real James Bond Cars" – with Top Gear's Jason Barlow

Summary

Jason Barlow (X; Biography) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the iconic James Bond vehicles. Jason is the longstanding editor-at-large at Top Gear.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

• How the “Bond car” phenomenon came to be
• Ian Fleming’s love for cars
• The different “nationalities” of Bond cars
• What it’s like to be behind the wheel of some of these iconic cars 

Reflections

• The making of pop culture
• The “personality” of cars

And much, much more …

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, Andrew was joined by Jason Barlow, long-standing editor-at-large for BBC Top Gear. Jason has spent over two decades writing for Top Gear and British GQ, as well as appearing in many other publications and television programs. He’s the author of The Definitive Guide to James Bond Cars, which is the ultimate guide to every single vehicle ever driven by 007. Aston Martins, Jaguars, BMWs, you name it, Jason has probably sat behind the wheel.  

Tune in this week to round out your James Bond knowledge – Here on SpyCast we’ve covered everything 007: his creator Ian Fleming, the James Bond novels, and the cultural history of the films. Now, we bring you the final installment: The cars. Start your engines folks, this is a good one! 

And… 

To see a collection of some of these cars up close and personal, visit us here at the International Spy Museum to see Bond In Motion while it’s still here! If you’ve visited us before, you may have seen our very own Aston Martin DB5 in the lobby – This car was used in the promotional tour for Goldfinger in 1964. 

Quotes of the Week

“Something strange happens in popular culture, where worlds kind of collide and cars assume these sorts of statuses far in excess of what they're actually doing in the movies. I find it fascinating as a process. Nobody can predict how these things are going to go and it's wonderful when these things do happen.” – Jason Barlow.

Resources 

SURFACE SKIM

*Spotlight Resource* 

• Bond Cars: The Definitive History, Jason Barlow (BBC Books, 2021)

*SpyCasts*

• The Real Ian Fleming with Nicholas Shakespeare (2024) 
• The James Bond Collector with Mike VanBlaricum (2024)
• Bond After Fleming, the Continuation of an Icon with Mark Edlitz (2023)
• 70th Anniversary of James Bond, Special with Alexis Albion on 007 (Part 1 of 2) (2023)
• 70th Anniversary of James Bond, Special with Alexis Albion on 007 (Part 2 of 2) (2023)

*Beginner Resources*

• A Complete List of James Bond Cars, J. Osborn, Man of Many (2023) [List of cars]
• Aston Martin DB5 and 007 - A Special Bond, Aston Martin, YouTube (2021) [1 min. video]
• Why are cars interesting anyway? R. Meester, Medium (2021) [Short article]

DEEPER DIVE

Books

• Ian Fleming: The Complete Man, N. Shakespeare (Harper, 2024)
• Ian Fleming’s War: The Inspiration for 007, M. Simmons (Rare Bird Books, 2021)
• Licence to Thrill: A Cultural History of the James Bond Films, J. Chapman (I.B. Tauris, 2008)

Articles

• Spy Into James Bond’s Collection of Cars and Submarines at This New DC Exhibit, M. Weinfield, Thrillist (2024)
• A breakdown of every James Bond actor's favourite car, A. Hay-Nicholls, GQ (2022) 
• The Man With The Golden Gun’s Corkscrew Jump, 007 Eon Productions (2019) 
• BMW's James Bond cars were both bland and brilliant, C. Rowlands, GQ (2019) 
• James Bond, Ian Fleming and intelligence: breaking down the boundary between the ‘real’ and the ‘imagined,’ T. McCrisken & C. Moran, Journal of Intelligence and National Security (2018) 
• A Bond Affair: the Cultural Politics of Ian Fleming and 007, C. Lindner, Journal of British Cinema and Television (2004)

Video

• Every Aston Martin in James Bond Explained, WIRED, YouTube (2021) 
• Driving the best Bond cars ever! Top Gear, YouTube (2020)

Cars Mentioned

• Aston Martin DB5
• AMC Hornet
• Mustang Mach 1
• Lotus Esprit
• Aston Martin V8
• Toyota 2000GT
• Aston Martin V12 Vanquish 
• BMW 750iL

*Wildcard Resource*

• “Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz …”
• We’ve now firmly established that film can immortalize cars for decades to come. Well, it’s the same in music – Think “Little Red Corvette” by Prince, or “Ol’ 55” by Tom Waits. Perhaps one of the most iconic cars in music is Janis Joplin’s 1964 psychedelic Porsche, now remembered fondly through her 1971 song “Mercedes Benz.”