Why is the DB5 Left hand Drive?
Jayski
Munich, GermanyPosts: 82MI6 Agent
I watched the movie for a second time and noticed the DB5 5 is left hand drive, kinda disappointing, but then again, at least that car was in the movie 
Comments
are you by any chance the same Jayski who owns and operates the ESPN-supported NASCAR news site, www.jayski.com? I would assume not, but it's interesting that one of your early posts is on the topic of the DB5.
Given that the DB5 pre-dates Bahamian independence, however, and that as the UK was one of the biggest car producers in the world and dominated the markets of its colonies and dependencies (with right hand drive cars) back then, the steering wheel being on the wrong side is rather inexplicable. (If it's a native Bahamian, or ex-British registered car, that is.)
It wont be the first time!
wess
Not sure about Montenegro, but most of Europe (outside the UK) is LHD.
I noticed the '64 Aston in CR was LHD right from the start, and it was probably the most irksome thing in the movie.
Also didn't understand the presence of the Mondeo either. Nobody's heard of or seen this car in the States. It's available everywhere but North America (though it was sold as the Contour for a few years here). I guess it was better than cramming his ass in a Focus, though. And the Mondeo he drives is LHD. Did the rental lot in the Bahamas get that car from France or something?
Nonetheless, I kinda like the looks of the '07 Mondeo (not sure how Bond got it from Avis as soon as July '06, since the car just debuted, but oh well). I think it looks better than the Fusion or the awful looking Five Hundred that we get here in the U.S.
The DBS carries Serbia & Montengerin registration tags (including their national flag in the centre of the plate, after the 'TT'). Considering that it was filmed during Montenegro gaining it's independence from Serbia, and that registrations in that country wouldn't change so quickly, it's a locally registered car.
Bit odd really- after all; is Bond's cover supposed to from Montenegro? Beech, isn't it? We see him travelling on the train down through Europe when Bond assumes his identity in the script, so why MI6 feel they have to give him a locally registered car isn't really clear; he's not supposed to be a local. And I'm not convinced there's an Aston dealer in Montenegro so the idea of Beech buying it there doesn't make a huge amount of sense either.
Of course, I meant to say "right-hand drive underlines that ..."
It's not entirely implausible that it would be LHD even though the Bahamians drive on the left either. The Carribean automobile market is such that many cars are LHD simply because most of them are shipped from the mainland Americas, where almost every car is LHD.
It's also not unlikely that a rental car such as the Mondeo would be LHD. Check out Avis' Bahamian rental fleet: http://www.avis.com.bs/rentalfleet.html
Note that it reads "All vehicles are left-hand drive".
In terms of the movie, all I'll say is that it was roughly made for an American audience, hence had an Americanised car in it.
You'll find it easier to remember if you adopt the system we use: cars either come in right-hand drive or, as I understand they drive in strange foreign lands, wrong-hand drive.
Given the car's introduction in the story, I found the whole thing irksome. Unless, as evidenced by the LHD business, we're saying that this is simply a DB5 and not the DB5. In effect, the DB5 then becomes something akin to the earlier Bonds' Bentley, with the DBS then becoming a replay of Q Branch again replacing a more beloved mode of transportation ....
What bothered me more was its inclusion at all: did the film lack Bondian tone so much that it was felt necessary to add in this sort of reinforcing prop? Ok, it's a nod to the past, but aren't we ignoring the past and rebooting with a clean sheet? After all, 007 has also been issued with the latest in overkill Astons, itself a contemporary nod to Goldfinger the novel and film. To put him in a DB5 as well smacks of serious over-egging.
It will be interesting to see how this all turns out in subsequent films: was the DB5 left in the airport car park, or will it reappear in Bond 22? Will it still be LHD and on Bahamas plates, or has it been down to Q-branch for a quick overhaul, a conversion to RHD and a British 'BMT' numberplate?