2011 Lotus Evora 2+2 on 2040-cars

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All 25 James Bond movies ranked only by their cars

There is no shortage of lists ranking the best James Bond movies. Ditto lists about the best or worst James Bond cars. I know, I've written some of them. As such, why not combine the two ideas into one new list that ranks all 25 official James Bond movies based exclusively on their cars, or more accurately their car content. I would then pull from my 25 years of James Bond nerddom plus the excellent "Bond Cars: The Definitive History" and our interview with long-time Bond special effects supervisor Chris Corbould to provide tidbits and factoids about the cars and their roles in the movies. And yes(!), this list now includes "No Time to Die," which impresses by adding plenty of car content to the series. It's now available on Blu-ray and download. To determine the list, I considered the inherent coolness of the cars as well as their importance to Bond, film and car history. I considered their importance to the story as well as the quality/excitement of the chases and scenes they participated in. Finally, I tried my best to divorce the car content from my opinions about the movies in general. That my personal list of best James movies looks nothing like this shows I was at least partially successful.     25. 'Moonraker' There are virtually no cars in "Moonraker." None. Oh, there's a gondola on wheels that makes a pigeon do a double-take, but that's not the same thing as a car. Neither is a golf cart. Or an ambulance. Or a space shuttle.   24. 'From Russia With Love' The literary James Bond mostly drove an ancient Bentley, and "From Russia with Love" is the only film in which it appears. It stays parked and the coolest thing that happens (by 1962 standards) is 007 answers its car phone. Thereafter, we get some old cars (even by 1962 standards) driving around Istanbul and a yellow truck. So yeah. Classic Bond film, a must-watch, just not for its car content.   23. 'Dr. No' History records that the first "Bond car" is the Sunbeam Alpine in "Dr. No." The car itself was literally borrowed from a Miss Jennifer Jackson of 53 Lady Musgrave Road in Jamaica for 10 pounds per day for two days during filming. Also, the stunt where it drove under an excavator blocking the road was entirely conceived because the filmmakers showed up to the road they intended to film on and discovered an excavator blocking the thing. Sadly, those are really the only two things interesting about the Alpine, which is a pretty small and dainty thing by Bond car standards.

Lotus Esprit spied wearing mismatched Evora bodywork

The sorta funky looking Lotus Evora you see above isn't really an Evora at all. In fact, it's a mule for an upcoming new Lotus in the spirit of the Esprit, which, rumor has it, will be introduced in the first half of 2021. It may even be called the Esprit, reviving the name of one of the company's most recognizable and well-loved nameplates, though that has yet to be confirmed by the British automaker. Power is expected to come from a Toyota-sourced V6 engine, as is the case with the Evora. But instead of the Evora's 2+2 seating configuration, the reborn Esprit would be a two-seater. While we aren't privy to the automaker's engineering offices, it seems the space vacated by the vestigial rear seating area might be used to hold some battery packs, as the upcoming car is going to be a hybrid. The 2020 Lotus Evora spins 416 horsepower out of its supercharged 3.5-liter V6; the hybridized Esprit is rumored to pack over 500 ponies, buoyed by an electric motor and lithium ion battery pack that's thought to be cribbed from the Volvo parts bin. That makes sense, as Lotus and Volvo both fall under Chinese automaker Geely's umbrella. The Evora offers the choice of six-speed manual or automatic gearboxes, but we'll have to wait and see if those choices are shared with the Esprit. The mule seen above is sporting some mismatched Evora bodywork — seemingly sprayed black in haste, judging by the specks of blue and yellow at the front and rear along with the lone green pop just ahead of the rear wheels — that has been widened with some tacked on wheel arches. The production version is expected to crib styling elements from Lotus' range-topping electric Evija. We can't wait to see how it all turns out. Related Video:

Lotus Eletre opens a new front in electric SUVs

Ladies and gentlemen, the new era of Lotus as an EV maker begins with this, the Eletre. It takes elements we've seen on the Evija battery-electric hypercar and Emira ICE sports car, wraps them in a larger package, jacks them up, and throws in a lot of new tech for the brand and the market. Let's start with size, which is the easy bit. The Eletre is 201 inches long on a 118.9-inch wheelbase, about 79 inches wide, and 64 inches high. Every one of those dimensions puts the Lotus within a couple of inches of the Aston Martin DBX: the EV being a little longer, with a slightly shorter wheelbase, a little wider, and a roof a couple of inches lower. For us, the side view most closely represents the form we had in mind based on recent spy shots. The front is intense, the yellow of the hero car making the greatest contrast with the polygonal void below. The lights above the leading edge are DRLs and turn signals, the main beams are recessed into that void, hugging the upper edge. The rear, with its Lotus script and full-width light bar fading into triangular intakes along the sides, clearly comes from the sports cars. It can glow in four colors depending on what it needs to communicate, and forms a connection with the light bar across the instrument panel. The SUV proportions and black roof are still playing tricks with our eyes, though; we can't help feeling the Eletre carries its bulk up high. The wheels are an optional set of 23-inchers that hide optional 10-piston (ten!) calipers gripping ceramic composite rotors. Lotus isn't ready to divulge specific battery capacity and motor outputs between those wheels. All we're told is the pack is more than 100 kWh and output starts at 600 horsepower. Every Eletre is all-wheel-drive, with a motor on each axle. The 800-volt electrical architecture can handle up to 350-kW fast-charging, 20 minutes at a station at that charge rate restoring 248 WLTP miles of the Eletre's estimated 373-mile range in WLTP testing. EPA numbers will come eventually. Lotus says the hauler will get to 62 miles per hour in under 3 seconds and hit a top speed of 161 mph. The electronic side mirror housings each contain three cameras, one camera for the rear views, one to help stitch a 360-degree overhead view, and one to help enable self-driving. The charge port is on the front left fender, but keen eyes might notice more shutlines atop the front wheel arches.