As the 1990s saw Bond change yet again into the modern world, this time it would be portrayed by another iconic actor. Pierce Brosnan would begin his career for MI6 in the 1995 film Goldeneye.
This film’s most famous Bond Car was actually a Russian T37 tank but towards the end of the film, the audience was given a glimpse of a new age of Bond. The BMW era.
Before the production of Goldeneye, EON productions had signed a 3 film deal with the Bavarian manufacturer to supply Bond with his own modes of transport. The first being the brand new Z3.
Bond’s specific Z3 in Goldeneye was a 1.9 litre 1996 model which most famously appears on an airstrip in Cuba. The car in the film has been thoroughly gone through by Q-Branch, offering Bond ”the usual refinements” which can be best demonstrated in the lab during the walk around with Q (played by Desmond Llewelyn. It is apparently equipped with Stinger missiles behind each of the Z3’s headlights, a parachute deployed from the boot and radar displayed on an LCD screen inside the dash. There is a mention of an Ejector seat though… as well as a self-destruct system. References to earlier Bond cars from the franchise.
The Z3 in Goldeneye, which holds the title as the first non-British Bond car to ever be officially issued to him by Q Branch, was only a brief appearance. Because it was traded on the airstrip in Cuba for a plane (where it’s then seen fishtailing off into the trees with its new owner CIA Jack Wade at the helm) it also holds the title as one of only a handful of Bond cars that are not destroyed on screen. Even the DB5 doesn’t hold that accolade.
The Z3 had some serious kudos with potential owners after the launch of the film. The first year of production had sold out before the first cars had even been finished. But, some audiences felt the Z3 should have been given more of a role in the film considering the armaments bestowed on it by Q-Branch. for that they would have to wait until the release of The World is Not Enough a few years later with another BMW as Bond’s car of choice.
So, this concludes the end of our series on notable James Bond 007 Cars that we here at Bridge Classic Cars have had experience dealing with.
But there is still one more… Check in tonight to find out how you could have the chance of owning one!
