As judged by notoriety, creativity, and number of people duped.

10. Planetary Alignment Decreases Gravity 1976

The British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.

9. Hotheaded Naked Ice Borers 1995

Discover Magazine reported that the highly respected wildlife biologist Dr. Aprile Pazzo had found a new species in Antarctica: the hotheaded naked ice borer. These fascinating creatures had bony plates on their heads that, fed by numerous blood vessels, could become burning hot, allowing the animals to bore through ice at high speeds. They used this ability to hunt penguins, melting the ice beneath the penguins and causing them to sink downwards into the resulting slush where the hotheads consumed them. After much research, Dr. Pazzo theorized that the hotheads might have been responsible for the mysterious disappearance of noted Antarctic explorer Philippe Poisson in 1837. "To the ice borers, he would have looked like a penguin," the article quoted her as saying. Discover received more mail in response to this article than they had received for any other article in their history.

8. The Left-Handed Whopper 1998

Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

7. Alabama Changes the Value of Pi 1998

The April 1998 issue of the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter contained an article claiming that the Alabama state legislature had voted to change the value of the mathematical constant pi from 3.14159 to the 'Biblical value' of 3.0. Soon the article made its way onto the internet, and then it rapidly spread around the world, forwarded by email. It only became apparent how far the article had spread when the Alabama legislature began receiving hundreds of calls from people protesting the legislation. The original article, which was intended as a parody of legislative attempts to circumscribe the teaching of evolution, was written by physicist Mark Boslough.

6. Nixon for President 1992

National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation program announced that Richard Nixon, in a surprise move, was running for President again. His new campaign slogan was, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I won't do it again." Accompanying this announcement were audio clips of Nixon delivering his candidacy speech. Listeners responded viscerally to the announcement, flooding the show with calls expressing shock and outrage. Only during the second half of the show did the host John Hockenberry reveal that the announcement was a practical joke. Nixon's voice was impersonated by comedian Rich Little.

5. San Serriffe 1977

The British newspaper The Guardian published a special seven-page supplement devoted to San Serriffe, a small republic said to consist of several semi-colon-shaped islands located in the Indian Ocean. A series of articles affectionately described the geography and culture of this obscure nation. Its two main islands were named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse. Its capital was Bodoni, and its leader was General Pica. The Guardian's phones rang all day as readers sought more information about the idyllic holiday spot. Only a few noticed that everything about the island was named after printer's terminology. The success of this hoax is widely credited with launching the enthusiasm for April Foolery that gripped the British tabloids in subsequent decades.

4. The Taco Liberty Bell 1996

The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.

3. Instant Color TV 1962

In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that, thanks to a new technology, viewers could convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen. Stensson proceeded to demonstrate the process. Thousands of people were taken in. Regular color broadcasts only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

2. Sidd Finch 1985

Sports Illustrated published a story about a new rookie pitcher who planned to play for the Mets. His name was Sidd Finch, and he could reportedly throw a baseball at 168 mph with pinpoint accuracy. This was 65 mph faster than the previous record. Surprisingly, Sidd Finch had never even played the game before. Instead, he had mastered the "art of the pitch" in a Tibetan monastery under the guidance of the "great poet-saint Lama Milaraspa." Mets fans celebrated their teams' amazing luck at having found such a gifted player, and Sports Illustrated was flooded with requests for more information. In reality this legendary player only existed in the imagination of the author of the article, George Plimpton.

1. The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest 1957

The respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best."

museumofhoaxes.com

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As if tornadoes, hurricanes and blizzards weren't enough to keep us on our toes, Mother Nature occasionally surprises us with some truly odd weather phenomena: From whirlwinds of fire to bloody rains, it's a strange world of weather out there.

10. Ice Fall/Bomb

Most people who have been in a strong thunderstorm have experienced hail, the chunks of ice, usually no larger than a softball, that sometimes fall from the storm clouds. But occasionally hailstones far, far larger (one was recorded at 80 pounds) fall from the sky, startling anyone nearby and often shattering into smaller chunks when they hit the ground. More mysterious are the giant chunks that have sometimes plummeted to the ground without a cloud in the sky. While some such events have been chalked up to ice fall off the wings of planes, others still have no explanation as to what caused them.

9. St. Elmo's Fires

During thunderstorms, people have reported seeing balls of 'fire' dancing on ships' masts, the horns of cattle, and their own heads. These small, luminous balls, called St. Elmo's fires, are static electric discharges that occur during thunderstorms and course up tall objects. While they aren't dangerous themselves, they can occur before a lightning strike, so it's probably best to get out of the way.

8. Sprites, Jets and Elves, Oh My!

For years, pilots have reported seeing strange colored flashes of light shooting out of the tops of storm clouds, usually to the disbelief of many, But in recent years, scientists have found proof that these strange types of lighting exist. Red sprites are blasts of red light that soar up to 50 miles above the Earth, usually in clusters of two or more. Their cousins, blue jets, are cones of bluish light that occur lower in the atmosphere than red sprites. Occurring at about the same time as red sprites are elves, a pancake-shaped red glow created by the heat of conventional lightning below. These flashes last only thousandths of a second, and scientists are still investigating exactly what causes them.

7. Whirlwinds of Fire

Though they don't have the ferocious, house-lifting winds of a tornado, dust devils can certainly look scary. These whirlwinds, essentially smaller versions of tornadoes, form when there is intense heat at the ground, which causes the air above it to rise, and winds that can cause the rising air to spin. The whirlwind picks up dust from the ground, hence its name. An even scarier relative is the fire devil, which forms over the intense heat of forest fires, pulling up ropes of fire that spin furiously above the blaze.

6. Sea Monster or Spinning Water?

The Loch Ness monster may be nothing more than an overactive column of spinning water. Small whirlwinds, sometimes called 'water devils,' can form over warm water, sucking the water up with them to create a funnel. These water devils can spin around erratically, sometimes making hissing or bubbling noises. These startling sounds combined with the long, neck-like appearance could certainly give anyone nearby the impression that a terrifying sea monster is about to jump out at them.

5. Once in a Blue Moon

Though the term 'blue Moon' usually refers to occasions every two and a half years when a full Moon occurs twice in one calendar month, there are rare occasions when the Moon really does look blue. Forest fires and volcanoes can shoot ash and soot high into the atmosphere where it mixes with water droplets. These sooty droplets can travel thousands of miles around the globe and are just the right size to scatter the moon's light, making the moon appear blue.

4. Seeing Triple

Even on a clear, sunny day, the sky can hold some surprises, at least for the eyes. If the Sun is close to the horizon and feathery cirrus clouds sit high in the sky, 'ghost' images of the Sun will sometimes materialize on either side of it, giving the appearance of three Suns shining in the sky. These ghostly Suns are actually brightly colored spots of light created when the Sun's rays are refracted by tiny ice crystals in the high clouds. Though they are a fairly common optical phenomenon, they are not always seen: after all, how often do you look directly at the Sun? [Without proper eye protection, looking at the Sun can blind you.]

3. The Sky is Bleeding!

Showers of blood falling from the sky may sound like something out of a Hollywood horror film, but such scarlet-tinted rains have been reported since ancient Roman times. Though they often horrified the people they fell upon, these rains were not actually blood?they were caused by dust or sand blown into the atmosphere and carried long distances by strong winds, eventually mixing with rain clouds and coloring the rain. In Europe, these red rains are usually dyed by dust carried across the continent from Saharan sand storms. (Other colored rains have also been spotted and seem to be caused by similar sources: pollens can create a startling yellow rain, dust from coal mines and ominous black rain, and some dusts a milky white rain.)

2. Great Balls of Fire

For centuries, people have reported an electrical oddity invading their homes, usually during thunderstorms. Balls of light, ranging from the size of a golfball to a football, occasionally float through the air during storms, undoubtedly surprising anyone they happen to encounter. Known as ball lightning, they have no smell and emit no heat and little sound. They generally disappear with a ?pop? when they encounter something electrical, like a television, though they occasionally explode more violently, sometimes starting fires. These glowing spheres not only mystify those who happen to encounter them, but scientists as well?as yet, there is no prevailing explanation for how ball lightning forms.

1. Raining Fish and Frogs

From California to England to India, people have periodically reported a fishy form of precipitation: small animals, such as fish, frogs, and snakes have occasionally fallen unexpectedly from the sky, sometimes miles away from water. Waterspouts whirling over lakes or oceans can suck water and whatever is in it up into the clouds above them. The strong winds of these storm clouds can carry their flopping cargo long distances before dumping them on unsuspecting people below.

livescience.com

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What looks like a strawberry, but is white and tastes like a pineapple? A pineberry, of course.

The freaky fruit will go on sale at selected Waitrose stores from today.

While the delicacy might look like a faded strawberry, it is said to have the exotic flavour and smell of a pineapple.

If the pineberry tantalises your tastebuds, you best be quick - they are only in season for the next five weeks.

The fruit, which has the same genetic make-up as the common strawberry, originated in South America where it grew wild.

It had been near to extinction until seven years ago when Dutch farmers saved it.

Now it is grown commercially in glasshouses, turning from green to white and are ripe when the seeds turn dark red.

Waitrose fruit buyer Nicki Baggott said: "Pineberries offer our customers the chance to add a new fruit into their diet and the berry's bright appearance can add an unusual decoration to sweet dishes.

"As the summer unfolds we won't be surprised to hear that our customers are inviting their friends over for pineberry pavlovas, punch or serving them up with yogurt for a lighter alternative."

:: A 125g punnet of pineberries will sell for £2.99 until April 13, and afterwards for £3.99.

news.sky.com

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A US mum has turned to Facebook to name her child.

Jenn Marsh, a photographer from Thamesville - who is expecting her fifth child with husband Joe - has had so many arguments with her partner about what to call their unborn child that she's started a contest on the social networking site asking people to offer up their best baby names.

She said: "We're getting a lot of unique, awesome names. I never dreamt in a million years the response would be this overwhelming."

The competition, which has already received more than 500 name suggestions, will see the winner get a free photo session at her business, as well a $50 print credit.

The couple have not yet revealed the sex of their child.

entertainment.stv.tv

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Monte Carlo has been named as the world's most expensive city destination for UK travellers to stay in a hotel.

Research found that the average hotel prices there topped £172 per night - putting it just ahead of Moscow (£169) and Abu Dhabi (£159).

The annual 'Hotel Price Index' study by Hotels.com looked at prices for 94,000 hotel rooms in more than 16,000 locations and compared how they have changed over time.

While Moscow was still the second most expensive place to stay it ws discovered that there had been a 27 percent drop in average room price.

The cheapest place to stay was found to be Riga in Latvia where the average room costs just £55 per night… with good reason, you're in Riga.

The top five most expensive cities

Monte Carlo £172
Moscow £169
Abu Dhabi £159
New York £149
Geneva £144

The top five cheapest cities

Riga £55
Orlando £57
Tallinn £59
Las Vegas £60
Kuala Lumpur £65

A spokesperson for Hotels.com, said: "2009 was a really interesting year for UK travellers holidaying abroad.

"While room rates across the world decreased by 14% on average, it is apparent that in some destinations prices did still go up.

"We have put our 'top five' lists together to help travellers make informed decisions when planning their holidays this year."

newslite.tv

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A US woman has been denied a $42 million gambling jackpot because of a technical problem.

Louise Chavez thought she'd won the staggering sum on a slot machine at the Fortune Valley Casino in Colorado but was told by staff that the game had broken.

Instead, she was offered a complimentary room, free breakfast and the $23 she originally gambled as compensation.

Louise - who has a number of experts looking into the machine's software - is continuing to push for the money.

She said: "I played the game, I put my money into the machine, whether it's $42 million, $42,000 or $4,000, I should get what the machine said."

entertainment.stv.tv

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A 1929 Austin car found languishing in a garage started first time - five decades after it was last driven.

The rare Austin 12/4 was owned by Roger Bulled's late father, Leslie, who had been given it brand new by his parents.

Mr Bulled, 63, discovered the old car whilst going through his father's possessions shortly after his death in 2008.

He turned the starter handle, to try to fire up the engine for first time since 1961, and was amazed to hear it turn over as if it had been driven every day.

He was too frightened to start the engine up fully in case it ruined the car, but is now putting it up for sale to allow an expert to restore it fully and hopefully get it onto the road.

He said: "I pumped up the tyres and they stayed up. The rubber is cracked but the inner tubes are obviously still intact, which is remarkable really.

"And the engine turned over when we tried it with the starter handle, but I didn't try to start her up in case I did any damage but I'm sure it would go."

Mr Bulled added: "My grandparents bought it in 1929 for my father to drive them around in. We lived in Barnet in North London and used to go on holiday to Cornwall or Devon.

"We used to set off very early in the morning, so I used to sleep on the floor in the back, there was no transmission tube so it was flat, and my sister laid on the back seat."

The car is expected to attract nationwide interest when it goes under the hammer at Unique Auctions in Lincoln on April 5.

ananova.com

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A copy of the first comic to ever feature Superman - which initially went on sale for 10c - has been auctioned online for $1.5m.

The same issue sold for $1m in February, setting the record paid for a comic book -- but this was subsequently beaten by a 1939 comic book featuring Batman's debut.

However, another copy of Action Comics No. 1, considered to be the Holy Grail of comic books, was recently put up for sale and reached the record amount.

Only about 100 copies of the comic book remain in existence and few have been kept in very good quality.

This particular copy was preserved because it had been buried in a pile of old magazines until it was discovered in the 80s. Excuse us while we go and double check the magazine rack. A spokesperson for ComicConnect, which sold the comic, said: "This new record will be hard to break.

"Because this particular Action Comics #1 is literally the single most valuable comic book on the planet."

newslite.tv

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Scientists have captured an image of a moon which looks like a giant Pac-Man.

Mimas, one of Saturn's 62 moons, revealed the likeness when a probe measured daytime temperatures across its surface.

The resulting map looks like the character from the iconic computer game Pac-Man.

The image was taken by the Cassini spaceship, a joint venture between Nasa, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency, which is orbiting the planet.

Experts have attributed the variations in temperature across the moon's terrain to differences in the texture of surface materials, some of which may retain heat better.

Pac-Man, a hungry yellow ball which chomps its way around a maze, was recently named in a poll as the world's best-known video game character.

news.sky.com

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An interesting concept that draws inspiration from the Lockheed's F-117 Nighthawk, the Lamborghini Ankonian features "a narrow and rather complex-looking body, with a garnishing of GT proportions." No word yet on if it will go into production.

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A model car enthusiast has made history by shelling out over £10,000 to become the proud owner of the world's most expensive matchbox toy.

The mysterious bidder, whose identity remains unknown, rang in with the winning offer at the auction in Harrogate, North Yorks., which took place to mark the Matchbox Club's 25th and final annual convention.

Previous owner Takuo Yoshise, 75, flew in from Japan to attend the landmark auction and his lengthy journey was not wasted as he witnessed a fellow fan make history with the whopping offer.

Model buffs from across the globe descended on the Holiday Inn in Harrogate on March 26 to attend the sale of some of the most desirable toys around.

Top of the list was the Lesney dumper truck, produced by the Matchbox car company in 1955 as a prototype for a range of larger toys, though the up-scale version never materialised after the toy giant opted for the miniature vehicles - which have now become world famous.

As a result, the pricey prototype on sale at Harrogate is believed to be one of only six ever to be made and the only surviving model which explains its enormous fee.

Elderly Mr Yoshise had decided it was time to pass his prized asset on to a younger collector and the Lesney truck eventually sold for 10,200 pounds to become the world's most expensive matchbox toy - eclipsing the previous record of 7,200 pounds.

Kevin McGimpsey, editor of the Matchbox Clubs magazine and convention organiser, said: This truck is the Holy Grail for Matchbox enthusiasts and we are delighted that its sale has caused such a stir.

Mr Yoshise has been the lucky owner the only surviving example of these trucks since the early 1980s so we were all very excited when he told us he wanted to sell it here.

This year marks our final convention and the Holiday Inn has helped us put on a fantastic event which is topped off by such an exciting auction lot.

David Morgan, General Manager at the hotel, said: "We are delighted to have the Matchbox Club with us to celebrate their final convention and we are glad that they have been able to hold such an exciting auction here at the hotel. It's great to be a part of a record breaking event and we wish the club the best of luck in the future."

telegraph.co.uk

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A goldfish who was presumed dead managed to survive a whole seven hours out of water.

Owner of Mr Fish, Carol Norris (44) scooped the lifeless goldfish out of his bowl, wrapped him in tissue and laid him in a dry bath.

Around seven hours later, Carol returned to bury the 13-year-old fish and was gobsmacked when he flipped over in her hand.

Mr Fish is now back in his tank.

paisleydailyexpress.co.uk

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Visitors to the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics could have a watery view as they fly into Brazil thanks to a proposed 345ft man-made waterfall.

The Solar City Tower would be tall enough to be seen poking through the clouds on the main aircraft approach into the city.

Located on a small island, the sustainable landmark would consist of a solar power plant that by day produced energy for the Olympic village and the waterfall.

Extra power would be used to pump and store water for storage, which would be then released at night to produce a nocturnal supply of electricity.

Designed by Swiss architects RAFAA, The Solar City Tower would feature an observation tower, cafe and shops at its summit.

The concept was created for a design competition for an Olympic landmark for Rio de Janeiro.

ananova.com

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A brewery now has the legal right to release a beer called 'F**king' after winning a battle with the European Patent Office.

Stefan Fellenberg had initially been told by the European Patent Office that his brewery could not use the name for a beer as it was offensive.

But after three years of legal wrangling he appears to have somehow managed to convince them his proposed 'F**king Hell' brew is actually named after a village in Austria and not the rude word.

Because F**king is a real place name, officials were helpless to prevent him from releasing the beer. Equally the 'Hell' in the title obviously comes form the German word for larger Helles.

If the beer is a hit Stefan might want to take a look at our Top 10 list of rude place names. Imagine saying you are going down to the pub for a... The Austrian village of F**king was first founded around 1070 and is said to be named after a man from the 6th century called Focko.

In 2004 villagers took a vote was held whether they should change the name - the vote was prompted because of the cost of replacing stolen street signs - but the residents voted against doing so.

heraldsun.com.au

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Fast cars and improbable chases have been key ingredients in the James Bond films since the series began in 1962. From modest beginnings in Dr No, when 007 outran his pursuers in a rented Sunbeam Alpine, the Bond car has grown in speed, sophistication and sex appeal. With each new model, James Bond has been able to impress us with his impeccable driving and unflappable demeanour and, more importantly, to transport us to a place where our fantasies and envy collide like so many henchmen in a car chase.

Here’s a list of the ten most impressive Bond cars in the 21 films to date.

10. Venetian Gondola (Moonraker, 1979)

Over 21 films, 007 has commandeered many unlikely vehicles: from a moonbuggy, to an old routemaster bus, to the odd fake alligator submersible. But the most memorable was the gondola which transformed into a faux-Venetian hovercraft in Moonraker. In that one surprising moment when Roger Moore drove off through the crowds in Piazza San Marco, he fired the imaginations of motorway commuters everywhere who’ve been longing ever since for their own hovercraft to escape the daily gridlock. Not even Q has come up for a solution to that yet.

9. Citroën 2CV (For Your Eyes Only, 1981)

Giving new meaning to the phrase ‘race to the bottom’, Roger Moore outran two decidedly unthreatening Peugeot 504s in an even more sluggish Citroën 2CV during a precipitous chase down a Spanish mountainside in For Your Eyes Only in 1981. Despite its unprepossessing appearance, the 2CV was one of the most heavily modified of all Bond cars, as just about every part of the original vehicle was replaced with high-performance components. But even with a few more cheveux under the bonnet, the little 2CV struggled just to keep pace with the humble Peugeots, leaving 007 to make-up for the lack of horsepower with some tricky driving and, as always, the best of British luck.

8. Aston Martin Vanquish (Die Another Day, 2002)

When Aston Martin returned to the Bond series after the brief BMW interlude in the late Nineties, it was in the muscular form of the 2002 Vantage, equipped with familiar gadgets like an ejector seat, rocket launchers, machine guns and ice-spike tyres, but also, somewhat absurdly, with a cloaking device which rendered the car invisible. The Bond films’ car chases were rightly famous for the fact that they involved real-live stunts, and this turn to computerised special-effects undermined one of the franchise’s key selling points. And who wants James Bond to have an invisibility device anyway, if it keeps us from watching him dally in the back seat with his latest lady?

7. BMW 750iL (Tomorrow Never Dies, 1997)

The BMW 750iL may have seemed more sedate than the sports cars Bond had driven previously, but it was no less spectacular during a chase around a parking garage in Tomorrow Never Dies. While this car featured a number of predictable enhancements like rocket launchers, reinflating tyres and wire cutters, Q added to it another surprise in the form of a remote control which allowed 007 to steer the car via his mobile phone: the ultimate in back-seat driving. More surprising still was the fact that Q engineered the car’s talking onboard computer with a fake German accent. On Her Majesty’s Secret Service indeed!

6. Ford Mustang Mach-1 (Diamonds Are Forever, 1971)

Having already conquered evil masterminds, the Soviet Union, and a temptress or two in the first three Bond films, it was only a matter of time before 007 tamed an American muscle car too. In 1971’s Diamonds Are Forever, Sean Connery took a massive Ford Mustang Mach-1 on a wild spin around the Sunset Strip in Las Vegas, with a few scrambling police cars for company. In one of the more spectacular Bond car stunts, he flipped the Mustang up onto two wheels to squeeze it through a narrow alleyway. Unfortunately the film’s editors weren’t so skilful: in a famous continuity error, the car was filmed entering the alleyway on one set of wheels, but emerged on the other side driving on the opposite pair.

5. Toyota 2000GT (You Only Live Twice, 1967)

For filming in You Only Live Twice, Toyota cut the roof off two of its high-performance sports cars, the 1967 2000 GT. Rumour has it that the roof had to be removed because Sean Connery couldn’t fit inside the coupé, even though the car was only driven by Bond’s colleague Aki. The car included a TV, a cordless telephone and a voice-controlled stereo system: electronic gadgets which are virtually standard features on Japanese cars today.

4. Bentley Mark IV (From Russia With Love, 1963)

As James Bond’s car of choice in Ian Fleming’s novels, the Bentley Mark IV is almost as legendary as the DB5. It is legendary also in the sense that Bentley never produced a car under this name. What we see instead in From Russia With Love is a Derby Bentley convertible, which Sean Connery uses only briefly for the purpose of seducing Miss Sylvia Trench.

3. BMW Z8 (The World is Not Enough, 1999)

The BMW Z8 driven by Pierce Brosnan in The World is Not Enough was designed in homage to the famous BMW 507 roadster from 1956 (which, curiously, the first Bond girl Ursula Andress received as a gift from its first owner, Elvis Presley, in 1963). 007’s version was fitted with surface-to-air missiles and a remote control device and, as John Cleese’s character proudly boasted, no fewer than six cup-holders. The Z8 was still in prototype form when the film was being shot, so the car seen onscreen is in fact a Shelby Cobra kit car with specially-built replica body panels. Fortunately the facsimile bodywork was only made of plastic, as the car was ultimately cut in two by a giant aerial buzzsaw during a dockside battle. That voids the warranty, apparently.

2. Lotus Esprit (The Spy Who Loved Me, 1977)

Second in the Bond car hall of fame is “Wet Nellie”, the sleek white Lotus Esprit with the hidden talent of transforming into a submarine at the flick of a switch. In The Spy Who Loved Me, Roger Moore escapes his hunters by driving the Esprit off a pier into the sea, where it transforms into a fully functioning submarine. Armed with surface-to-air missiles, depth charges, underwater sight screens and torpedoes, Bond was able to despatch a team of underwater attackers and an airborne helicopter before surfacing, with all the calm and camp which Roger Moore could muster, at a nearby holiday beach. So popular was the Lotus Esprit that it was brought back for the next film, For Your Eyes Only, only for its self-destruction mechanism to be triggered by thieves early in the film. It was later replaced by a red Lotus Esprit Turbo, at which point Lotus’s involvement in the Bond films ended.

1. Aston Martin DB5 (Goldfinger, 1964)

It started with an ejector seat. Without doubt the most famous of the Bond cars, and one of the most iconic cars in cinema history, is the Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger. This car started the trend for gadgetry which has become a hallmark of the Bond series of films, as it was fitted with an innovative array of extras, including machine guns, an oil slick deployer, bullet-proof glass, rotating licence plates, and an ejector seat. That these devices have become staples of spy films ever since is a testament to the enduring popularity and influence of this charismatic car.

Sean Connery apparently opposed the inclusion of these technological gimmicks in the DB5 because he feared that the technology would overshadow the character and his remarkable driving prowess. But he needn’t have worried: the DB5 has become so synonymous with James Bond that the prestige of each reinforces the other. The producers have played on this association over the years, and have used the DB5 in later Bond films, including GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and the latest Casino Royale. (Scenes featuring the car were cut from the final version of The World is Not Enough.) The DB5 also made a cameo appearance, driven by Roger Moore, in the 1980s film Cannonball Run.

But despite its illustrious reputation, the DB5 retains to this day the dubious distinction of recording the slowest time on Top Gear’s Power Laps feature. Maybe if James Bond had been behind the wheel rather than The Stig, the result might have been different?

timesonline.co.uk

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