This Ford Thunderbird Is Probably The Lowest-Mile Bond Car Ever

May. 01, 2022 8:22 PM ET by Chase Bierenkoven Muscle Cars / 6 Comments

It's not like James treats his cars particularly well.

James Bond can't really be described as someone who treats his cars with a great deal of care. "Do bring it back in one piece" says Q, shortly before a jump cut to Bond generally doing something grossly irresponsible with whatever vehicle he might have in his care. This one's a little different though. Largely because the owner, Dennis Roxworthy, has kept this Bond car in immaculate shape.

It's a 2003 Ford Thunderbird James Bond Edition, and it only has 268 miles on it. The automotive press at the time was quick to call the car a retro cash grab and a failure, despite it technically being a Bond car by way of appearing in "Die Another Day." But Dennis is part of a small cult following for the car and possesses a shocking amount of knowledge on this obscure car.

Dennis has owned the car for 20 years and has not once taken the top off the coral-colored T-Bird. All 268 miles on the car's odometer were put on there by Dennis himself, and the car has even got the factory door guards installed. Maybe that's where Challenger owners got the idea from. Regardless, this is one of only 14,768 cars made for the 2003 model year, with 700 of those being James Bond Edition cars.

The Bond tie-in is a bit thin. It was driven by Halle Berry's character in the 2002 film, not by Bond. Brosnan would have likely looked a bit comical in a Coral convertible. Speaking of the color, it's the only color available for the Bond Edition, fitting as the film car was also Coral. There isn't really anything other than the pain to identify the car as a Bond Edition, either.

In fact, Dennis didn't initially realize it was a Bond Edition car, saying that he just liked the color of it. Regardless, these got some subtle changes over the factory T-Birds, with Coral paint, a white hardtop, chrome wheels, and a white leather interior with engine-turned trim panels with "007" badges. On the outside, there isn't a single thing to identify the car as a Bond Edition.

There weren't any changes made mechanically either, with this one powered by the same Jag-derived 3.9-liter V8 that powered all Thunderbirds. It's also a hair less powerful than Ford Mustangs of the era, producing 280 hp, up from 252 hp in pre-2003 cars. It's an odd car, but then again, it was an odd car to feature in a Bond film. At least this one hasn't been destroyed by some devilishly handsome alcoholic.

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