James Bond’s first Bentley was a 4½ Litre ‘Blower’, which ended up being crashed in both Casino Royale and Moonrakerįleming commented in an interview that he picked a ‘Blower’ for Bond because he wanted him to “use dashing, interesting things”. The arrangement of having the supercharger slung ahead of the radiator grille rather happily gave these cars a very distinctive look. Bentley, who felt that doing so to a Bentley was to “pervert its design and corrupt its performance”. The Roots-type supercharger he bolted onto the front of Birkin’s 4½ Litre boosted power from 110bhp to 175bhp (and considerably more for subsequent racing versions), much to the chagrin of W.O. Charles Amherst Villiers was a gifted engineer who created the original ‘Blower’ Bentley for Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin in 1929. His personal car in Casino Royale was a pre-war 4½ Litre Convertible Coupé boasting an Amherst Villiers supercharger and battleship grey paintwork.

Naturally, that included an interest in fast, expensive cars, and for a patriotic British spy of that era, few marques quite fitted the bill like Bentley.īond, it seems, was something of a classic enthusiast. Journalist Ian Fleming drew on his own wartime Naval Intelligence experience to create his superspy, and indulged him with the same rich tastes, personality and love of the high life as himself. “The scent and smoke and sweat of a casino are nauseating at three in the morning.” So began 1953’s Casino Royale novel, introducing James Bond to the world. Here we’ll be taking a look at precisely what Winged B machines 007 has driven – and occasionally destroyed. Continuation novels have subsequently reintroduced Bond to Bentleys, and Aston Martin hasn’t had it all its own way in the films either, with the odd Bentley also sneaking on-screen. It’s an affiliation that’s less well-known than the famous Aston association, yet the character owned three different models in the Fleming works alone. However, while the cinematic 007 may be firmly wedded to his Astons, the literary Bond – as written by author Ian Fleming – only had eyes for Bentley. He had to console himself instead with some Lotus Esprits and a Citroen 2CV. Since then, only Roger Moore’s 007 hasn’t slipped behind the wheel of an Aston while on Her Majesty’s secret service. Here’s how Bond came to drive a B-badged carĪston Martin has become the car brand most associated with fictional superspy James Bond ever since an immaculately Anthony Sinclair-suited Sean Connery took a silver DB5 out for a quick spin to Switzerland in 1964’s Goldfinger. The cinematic incarnation of James Bond is synonymous with Aston Martin, but Bentley is his preference in print.

James bond's car in casino royale