Site MapAn Enthusiast’s Look At The Cars In ‘No Time To Die’
Land Rover is now a spy car
It’s time to say good-bye to Daniel Craig’s James Bond – and his cars.
The final installment of the current Bond era is a fitting farewell indeed, reuniting Bond with his nemesis Blofeld (Christoph Waltz) while also pitting him against a new, deadlier threat (Rami Malek’s Safin, proving once again that this franchise knows how to cast a creepy guy in a creepy role). There’s also a hint of domesticity to this chapter of the super spy’s story, with Bond’s paramour Dr. Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) and her young daughter playing a critical role in his mission. But does that change in tone affect the cars that grace the screen? And does the film reunite Bond with another key character in the franchise, his Aston Martin DB5?
When Bond finally catches up with Madeleine again towards the middle of the film (yeah, that Spectre attack didn’t exactly work wonders for their relationship), she is living a quieter life in her childhood home, with a young daughter that may or may not be his. Which means Bond has an even greater sense urgency when they are under attack, yet again, and need to flee immediately. He rushes Madeleine, her daughter, and her daughter’s beat-up stuffed rabbit into a Toyota Land Cruiser 90 Series, which performs admirably well against Safin’s fleet of Range Rovers and Land Rover Defenders. The latter is part of Land Rover’s newest collaboration with the Bond films, which will result in a limited line of just 300 Defender V8 Bond Editions fit for a superfan.
Land Rover gets another notable feature earlier in the film, when Lashana Lynch’s newly minted 007 messes with Bond’s Land Rover Series III in order to ensure that he’ll need to ask her for a ride home. It’s a perfect calm-before-the-storm car, symbolizing the simple, carefree living that Bond has come to enjoy during his retirement (which he is about to get dragged out of, of course). And it’s just one of several great driving moments from Lynch’s character, who later picks up Bond in her ultra-sleek Aston Martin DBS Superleggera.
You might’ve heard rumors that the new Aston Martin Valhalla appears in the film as well, but it’s really just a set piece – the DBS gets way more air time. So, since knowing your way around an Aston Martin is basically a prerequisite for playing Bond, does that mean Lynch is poised to officially succeed Craig as 007? That might get a little complicated from a narrative standpoint, but anything’s possible. And although the Daniel Craig era is over, No Time To Die certainly assembles an impressive group of vehicles to see him off.
