Roger Moore: his greatest roles with cars
Every actor who played James Bond has a moment that exactly marks the point when they made 007 their own and with the late Sir Roger Moore this occurred in The Spy Who Loved Me. Sean Connery and George Lazenby could have piloted an aquatic Lotus Esprit but only Roger would emerge from the Mediterranean and proceed to drop a fish out of the window.
Not unexpectedly, this vignette was devised by Moore himself and it further inspired countless future Lotus owners to spend their pocket money on a rather splendid Corgi die-cast model. If any chap was born to drive a Q-modified white Esprit while insouciantly evading a metal-toothed giant in a Ford Taunus Ghia, it was Roger Moore.
When The Spy Who Loved Me was released on the July 7, 1977 Roger Moore had nearly 30 years’ experience of vehicle-related screen appearances, the first being a 20-minute Automobile Association training film shot near Guildford; Moore was naturally cast as the AA’s most dashing patrolman.
