(Courtesy of sparetireblog.com)

 Many car manufacturers want to spice up their image by having their cars driven by movie heroes. From the Ford Mustang GT in Bullitt, the Chevrolet in Transformers movies, the Audi in Transporters to the Aston Martin that is synonymous with James Bond. The Aston Martin DB5 has already featured in eight Bond movies, either being driven by Bond himself or as a cameo. Famous as a "spy car", even outside the Bond franchise, it has appeared in numerous movies and games, mostly those that reference the British Secret Service.

In the US, the classic example of cars in movies is the featuring of Ford Mustang GT Fastbacks in the movie Bullitt (1968), staring Steve McQueen as Detective Frank Bullitt. The 10-minute and 53-second car chase involving the Mustang and a Dodge Charger is regarded as one of the best car-chase scenes of all time. Ford even sold a limited edition '€œMustang Bullitt'€ in 2001, and again in 2008 '€“ proof of the link between the movie and the car.

Despite not always boosting sales '€“ Mustang sales dropped 5 percent the year after Bullitt was released '€“ placement in movies helps to create a certain image for companies. The "Bond car" title was tightly glued to Aston Martin even though other manufacturers like BMW and Lotus had also been driven by 007 and despite the fact that in Ian Fleming'€™s novels Bond drove a Bentley.

Jaguar is taking a unique approach in Bond movies, having their cars driven by villains of Bond. A consistent trend since Die Another Day (2002), in which a Jaguar XKR was driven by villain Zao while fighting Bond, in his Aston Martin Vanquish, in a battle of gadgets.

In Daniel Craig's era, a more '€œhumble'€ Jaguar XJ8 is used by villain Le Chiffre and Mr. White on Casino Royale (2006). The next movie, Quantum of Solace (2008), featured the same Jaguar XJ8 being used by villain Dominic Greene. In Skyfall (2012), Jaguar was no longer the villain'€™s car and instead provided M's official car, a Jaguar XJ, appearing throughout the movie. In fact, an armored Jaguar XJ Sentinel is used by UK PM David Cameron as his official government car, thus, M'€™s use of the car is coherent as she too is a government official, of sorts.

In Spectre (2015), Jaguar endorsed the villain again by supplying a C-X75 for Mr. Hinx, played by Dave Bautista. Originally a concept car at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, Jaguar canceled production of the C-X75 in 2012 due to poor economic conditions. The C-X75 seen in Spectre was purposely built for the movie. The 2010 concept contained two electric engines '€“ each producing 194 brake horse power (bhp) '€“ plus a 502 bhp, 1.6 liter four-pot engine, providing a combined 886 bhp. The movie version of the car instead used a preexisting V8 engine with 500 bhp. The car then went head to head with Bond's Aston Martin DB10 in the streets of Rome.

To support its distinctive positioning as a "villain's car", Jaguar has launched a "Good to Be Bad" campaign, starting with a commercial titled Rendezvous to introduce the Jaguar F-Type Coupe. In April 2014, for the campaign, Jaguar hired Tom Hiddleston, Mark Strong and Sir Ben Kingsley, all known for their portrayals of bad guys in movies. "They say the British make good villains," says the commercial before describing a classy British villain. The campaign features a series of videos, always ending with, "It's good to be bad."

In the end, the customers have the choice '€“ to play the hero, or to cross over, and play the classy villain. (dan)(+)

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