Simon Kidston
Nobody did James Bond, secret agent 007, better than Roger Moore – and his choice of on-screen cars was never bettered either, says Simon
Dr Kananga’s laughing Voodoo henchmen, Scaramanga’s Golden Gun, subaquatic Stromberg’s plans for nuclear armageddon, Kamal Khan’s sinister alliance with crazed General Orlov... He saved us from them all and more without as much as a spilt Vodka Martini. Alas, even superheroes take a final bow and now, at the ripe age of 89, so has the actor who inspired a generation of young Western men and wooed their mothers – Roger Moore.
From his Sixties beginnings as quiffed crime-fighter Simon Templar, through a brief spell as playboy Brett Sinclair alongside Tony Curtis’ wisecracking Danny Wilde, and finally to seven outings as the world’s least-secret agent, 007, Moore will forever be remembered as the suave, impeccably tailored British gent who took megalomaniacs and nymphomaniacs in his stride with barely a raised eyebrow.
Motoring tastes? Eclectic. After the producers of The Saint were turned down by Jaguar for the loan of a new E-type, Volvo jumped in with the offer of its latest P1800 coupé liveried in ‘saintly’ white and the appropriate ‘ST 1’ registration. Sales jumped, iconic status was guaranteed and the owners' club has never looked back.
By The Persuaders! era, car companies had wised up to the marketing power of a hit series and Aston Martin was quick to supply its DBS for Lord Sinclair’s capers, although he had to make do with V8 badging and wheels alone, because the newer engine wasn’t ready. With its ‘BS 1’ licence plate on loan from circus owner Billy Smart, usually duelling with Wilde’s red Dino 246 GT, Sinclair’s yellow cruiser left an indelible mark on the imagination of now middle aged schoolboys.
In the Seventies James Bond covered more miles by speedboat, commandeered hatchback and decapitated double-decker bus than behind the wheel of anything resembling his old DB5 until Moore’s third 007 mission, The Spy Who Loved Me. Cue Britain’s supercar for the Disco Age, handed over by ‘Q’ with the ignored 'Pay attention 007, I want you to take great care of this equipment...'
'PPW 306R' – the white Lotus Esprit that dispatched torpedo-bearing motorbikes, henchmen-laden Cortinas and 38DD helicopters with ease before memorably gate-crashing the locals’ beach party – is probably the most iconic of 007’s Moore-era rides, and returned briefly before self-detonating in For
Your Eyes Only. He was chauffeured in a Hispano-suiza to Drax’s pheasant shoot in
Moonraker and his aristocratic adversary’s Rolls-royce Phantom II in Octopussy. For his last 007 outing, From A View To
A Kill, Moore borrowed producer Cubby Broccoli’s personal Silver Cloud, its real ‘CUB 1’ registration concealed, driven this time by former Avenger Patrick Macnee as Bond’s manservant Tibbett, before both he and Rolls meet a watery end. I was so impressed I now have one as my daily London transport. We avoid lakes.
Three decades later Bond still drives fast cars, but somehow they smack more of product placement than genuine, classic style. To paraphrase one of his title themes, nobody did it better than Roger Moore. Goodbye, Mr Bond.