The first thing you imagine when mentioning a James Bond vehicle is gadgets - loads and loads of them. From oil slicks and rockets to ejector seats and flamethrowers, the automatic nostalgic choice is an Aston Martin, Lotus or BMW. However, one of the finest set pieces for car action involves a bog standard Alfa Romeo - with Roger Moore in a circus suit, naturally...
Octopussy Alfa Romeo GTV6
It might not be packed with machine guns and it might not have been on screen for long, but the fleeting appearance the Alfa Romeo GTV6 makes in 1983’s Octopussy is not only memorable, it’s swung around with some of the best stunt driving ever to grace the silver screen.
Trying to avert a nuclear disaster set up by some rather nasty chaps on an American air-force base, 007 ends up stealing the Alfa Romeo from a German woman too hell-bent on hogging the telephone box to notice there is an on-going diplomatic nightmare underway.
Sliding around tight corners and blasting down the autobahn to that glorious V6 snarl, Bond is clearly determined to prevent a nuclear catastrophe as not only is he unaffected by the police only meters behind him in tuned BMWs, he also unconcernedly rams the villains into the verge on the way past.
To those not old enough to comprehend a world without the mobile phone, you may be questioning the thought process on this one. Surely a quick phone call to a secure line could alert security to the potential Armageddon device nestled in the circus equipment?
Alas, this is 1983 - mobile phones have not yet hit the mainstream, they are still very much in their infancy. An actual mobile phone from 1983 also happens to weigh more, probably, than the GTV6 and would create a larger nuclear fireball if it was overcharged. Stuck without his gadgets, in the middle of the countryside with no phones available to use - stealing the fastest car around, in this case the Alfa, was Roger Moore’s only option.
The GTV6 certainly looks magnificent as it roars past, its sharp lines and almost artistic arched back swerving past every other car on the road. But what of the actual GTV6 itself?
Very, very little is known of this forgotten Bond vehicle. No one appears to know where it ended up next once filming wrapped, but after the stunt team underwent take after take of tyre burning powerslides, high speed driving and destruction of property, the chances are it was handed back to Alfa Romeo themselves.
It certainly sustained some damage, whipped through chain barriers and ultimately fired backwards into a rather sturdy stationary object. Discarded by 007 as he sprints off on foot, you can bet he was grinning for the entire journey.
The consensus is that Bonds best vehicle is an Aston, however when it comes to saving the world, forget your DB5 - this GTV6 is the car to do it in. EndFragment
If you like the sound of a Bond car on a budget, how about this GTV6?
You can watch the epic Alfa Romeo car chase below...