James Bond Cars

From Aston Martins fitted with ejector seats and water cannons to a Lotus Esprit reborn as a submarine to a Venetian gondola improbably reimagined as a hovercraft, the vehicles of the James Bond cinematic franchise are as iconic as the spy himself. Enter James Bond Cars, Assouline’s third fully-authorized title devoted to 007 (following James Bond Destinations and James Bond Style) and the most comprehensive chronicle ever published of not just the twenty-five films’ legendary automobiles, but also all the other must-know machines of land, sea, and air—whether motorcycles, helicopters, speedboats, blimps, snowmobiles, jet-packs, or even the bizarre one-offs developed specifically for Bond’s world (the “Little Nellie” autogyro from 1967’s You Only Live Twice comes to mind).

Curated and introduced by Academy Award–winning special-effects supervisor Chris Corbould, OBE, who has worked on fifteen Bond films, James Bond Cars is both a full-throttle visual catalog and an insider’s account of how filmmakers engineered some of cinema’s most unforgettable stunts. The book features more than three hundred images, from rare behind-the-scenes stills to design drawings to production ephemera, and Corbould’s commentary lifts the curtain on the secrets of those masterful sequences (think engineering hacks, one-take-stunts, near-disasters) and the rides that powered them. James Bond Cars is a film-by-film journey, starting with the Sunbeam Alpine in Dr. No (1962) and ending with the bullet-scarred Aston Martin DB5 in No Time To Die (2021).

The book stars 007’s own vehicles but also those used by his allies, love interests, and adversaries over the past six decades—from Bentleys, BMWs, and Land Rovers to Sunseekers, Glastrons, and Boeing 747s. The Bond series’ most enduring marque, the Aston Martin, appears in nearly half the films and is featured within this volume in a dozen- plus models, including the DB5, DBS, V8, Vanquish, and beyond. Through hundreds of vehicles on the ground, over the waves, and in the sky (or even space), James Bond Cars highlights the Bond franchise as cinema’s ultimate test driver.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
About the author: Chris Corbould OBE is an Academy Award–winning special-effects supervisor and second-unit director—and one of the James Bond franchise’s longest-serving collaborators, with credits on fifteen Bond films, from The Spy Who Loved Me to No Time To Die. London-born, he entered special effects in 1974 on Tommy, mastering hydraulics, engineering, fabrication, and pyrotechnics before moving into senior on-set roles on Superman (I, II, and III), Supergirl, and early Bond titles such as Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, and A View To A Kill. His first supervising break came on Nightbreed, leading to global work on Shadowlands, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The Mummy, and The World Is Not Enough. Subsequent supervising credits include 102 Dalmatians, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (I and II), Die Another Day, Batman Begins, Casino Royale, Quantum Of Solace, The Dark Knight, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. He and his team earned a Guinness World Records certificate for Spectre’s “largest film stunt explosion.” Corbould has also directed second-unit action on Skyfall, Christopher Robin, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, and The Rhythm Section. His honors include eleven BAFTA nominations (wins for Inception and The Force Awakens) and six Academy Award nominations, winning the Oscar for Inception. In the 2014 New Year’s Honours, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty The Queen for services to film. Beyond film sets, Corbould is a director of Auto Action Developments, specializing in bespoke vehicle construction; the company recently collaborated on Michael Mann’s Ferrari, building period race cars for the film’s signature sequences. He is developing his writing and directing debut, having optioned the nonfiction book The Cloud Garden, about two British backpackers kidnapped by Colombian rebels; Corbould is also attached to direct several other original projects. Find Chris on Instagram @chriscorbouldobe

312 pages
Over 150 illustrations
English language
Released in November 24th, 2025
Silk Hardcover
ISBN: 9781649806307

W 9.92 x D 13 x H 1.61 in
7.0 lbs.