Filed under: Time Warp, Contests
Best Bond chase vehicle a Citroen 2CV?
There is something terribly disturbing about announcing that a Citroën 2CV has beaten out a Lotus Esprit and a trio of Aston Martins. But the little French deux chevaux has been named the best James Bond chase car in a new 4Car poll. Piloted by Roger Moore in the classic 1981 film, "For Your Eyes Only", the duck managed to steal the top spot in the poll, which was done as part of an upcoming Jeremy Clarkson special, MPH Show '06.
For those who might not remember, the 2CV wasn't even Roger Moore's first choice. As Bond, he had to abandon his destroyed Lotus Esprit for the bright yellow 2CV to escape hitman Hector Gonzales and his henchmen. The 2CV incomprehensibly out-ran Sean Connery's Aston Martin DB5 from the Goldfinger chase scene. And that classic AM only managed a tie with Pierce Brosnan's destructive tank chase in 1995's Goldeneye. Shame on you, Channel 4 voters.
Clarkson and co-presenter James May will be hosting the live MPH Show '06 event that leads up to the premier of the newest Bond flick, Casino Royale. A live audience of 12,000 is expected at Birmingham's NEC (October 26-29) and London's Earls Court (November 2-5) where they'll see such stupendous sights as "a Ninja fighting a Vauxhall Monaro, a 3D helicopter gun chase and 'Parkour' experts defying gravity by jumping over moving cars." In the wake of Top Gear co-presenter Richard Hammond's recent jet-car crash, it is good to see Jeremy hasn't lost his taste for the fun stuff.
Full top ten list after the jump.
[Source: Channel 4's 4Car]
Top Ten James Bond Chase Sequences as voted by visitors to 4car.co.uk
Position Sequence & Film Votes
- Roger Moore in a Citroën 2CV: For Your Eyes Only (1981) 24 percent
- Sean Connery in an Aston Martin DB5: Goldfinger (1964) 13 percent
- Pierce Brosnan in a T-55 tank in St Petersburg: Goldeneye (1995) 13 percent
- Roger Moore in an AMC Hornet 'X' hatchback in Thailand: The Man With The Golden Gun (1974) 12 percent
- Roger Moore in a Lotus Esprit: The Spy Who Loved Me (1977) 10.5 percent
- Timothy Dalton chasing drug-filled tankers: Licence to Kill (1989) 9.5 percent
- Pierce Brosnan in a remote-controlled BMW 750: Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) 8.5 percent
- Sean Connery driving a Sunbeam followed by three assassins in a hearse: Dr. No (1962) 7 percent
- Timothy Dalton in an Aston Martin V8 Vantage down a snowy hillside: The Living Daylights (1987) 1.5 percent
- Pierce Brosnan in the Aston Martin Vanquish V12: Die Another Day (2002) 1 percent
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
DPC car videos 3:41PM (10/13/2006)
Saw one of these cars in person at the Sema show a while back and it looks like this car is made out of paper.
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Michigan2cv 3:55PM (10/13/2006)
As an American owner of one, there really is nothing like a 2CV. Beetle? Heck no. Completely lacking in character compared to a 2CV.
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smj 3:56PM (10/13/2006)
I totally agree with that choice. That scene is an all time classic. And that's one of the best Bond movies ever, FWIW.
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karlInSanDiego 4:17PM (10/13/2006)
What about when Bond drove the front half of a front-wheel drive Renault(R9??) in a view to a kill. That was classic.
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Manolo 4:17PM (10/13/2006)
A car chase with an extremely underpowered car is 100 times funnier than one with a super-exotic...
I do remember many, many years ago a street race between a Jaguar XKE and a Citroen 2CV. The avenue had sinchronized lights and the XKE will arrive to the following light before it turned green having to stop completely. By the time it switched to green the 2CV was arriving at full speed (relatively speaking) and will be ahead of the XKE for half of the distance to the next light. It was hilarious! The XKE driver must have been really frustrated.
and besides, the Citroen 2CV is probably the funniest car of the last century. No other car even comes close. Not one! You need to have had fun in one to understand it!
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Spaceweasel 4:30PM (10/13/2006)
No, no, no! The only acceptable answer is either A) the submersible esprit, or B) the original DB5.
That little rant out of the way, my single favorite Bond driving sequence is the Goldeneye Aston/Ferrari race. Best driving not in a Frankenheimer film!
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Spule4 4:45PM (10/13/2006)
The car in the movie had a GS (flat 4 motor) drivetrain added, I have seen photos before in one of the Citroen club publications from that period.
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Typesbad 5:58PM (10/13/2006)
I totally agree with the 2CV as the top choice. it may not have looked or sounded as good as the Aston but it was worth it just to enjoy the the joke of Bond engage in a chase in the least chase-worthy vehicle ever made. None of them beats the chase in the first Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which I believe the original chase vehicle was a horse.
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deuxchevaux 6:02PM (10/13/2006)
Reminds me of that cheeky old 2CV print ad, showing (among other things) a Ferrari with bold-print type "Faster than a Ferrari!" In small print it went on to say "Flat out at 61.5 mph, the Citroen 2CV will easily overtake a Ferrari travelling at 55 mph!" At least they have a sense of humor ...
And if you go by passenger, that 2CV clearly takes the biscuit. Though the Aston Martin in mountains and the submarine Lotus come close ...
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Christian 1:01PM (10/16/2006)
The fact that you don't understand the beauty of the duck beating out those other, admittedly gorgeous, cars, tells me you're not a true auto aficianado. Before the new version came out and everyone jumped on the bandwagon, would you have ever understood why so many people loved the original Mini Cooper more than most exotics? The same mix of usability, value and character made the 2CV, the old Mini, the old Beetle and the Fiat Quintocente four out of the top five cars ever built, and I say that as a man who regularly rubs photos of Ferraris against his nipples.
For Your Eyes Only is absolutely the best of the Moore Bond movies by a wide margin, and that chase scene is spectacular.
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