Before James Bond was drifting multi-million-dollar Aston Martins across European plazas, Roger Moore famously saved his own skin in something far more terrifying: a bright yellow Citroën 2CV. As 2026 marks the 45th anniversary of For Your Eyes Only and its tie-in showroom special, Citroën has officially inducted the iconic “Tin Snail” into its digital Citroën Origins museum, following its star turn alongside the 50th-anniversary 2CV Spot at this year’s Classic Tour in Paris.
After the gadget-heavy space opera of Moonraker, producers wanted 007 to rely on raw wits rather than rocket-firing cufflinks. Enter Melina Havelock’s humble yellow Citroën, played by Carole Bouquet alongside Moore. While the screenplay placed the legendary car chase near Madrid, Spain, filming actually happened on the narrow, winding roads of Corfu, Greece.
Naturally, a stock 2CV trying to outrun Peugeot 504 hitmen would have folded like an origami swan. To execute legendary stunt coordinator Rémy Julienne’s vision of bouncing, rolling, and surviving sheer drops, three heavily modified stunt cars were built in the UK. Beneath the familiar silhouette hid 1,015cc flat-four boxer engines borrowed from the Citroën Ami Super and GS, paired with full roll cages, heavy-duty underbody skid plates, and beefed-up suspension.
Buyers rushing to dealerships in 1981 hoping for a four-cylinder rally weapon reacted gently disappointed since the street-legal 2CV 007 retained the standard mechanicals of the regular 2CV 6. What customers got instead was pure theatrical flair: bright yellow paint, bold 007 logos on the hood, doors, and trunk, and factory-applied bullet-hole decals so you could look like you survived a gunfight without visiting a body shop.
In a newly released November 13, 2026 press update, Citroën also cleared up long-standing confusion over production numbers, revising its earlier September estimate of “just over 700” cars to an exact total of 800 units built at the Levallois plant in France. The first 300 right-hand-drive units debuted in Great Britain on July 4, 1981, based on the 2CV 6 Club and finished in Mimosa yellow.
France received the remaining 500 units on October 14, 1981, utilizing the 2CV 6 Spécial finished in Helios yellow and fitted with the Club’s rectangular headlights to better match the movie car. Forty-five years later, it remains proof that you don’t need horsepower to be an international man of mystery.