Bond in Motion is the official exhibition of James Bond vehicles that feature in the famous film series. The London-based show has more than 100 original items on display from all 23 Bond films.
There are no replicas – every vehicle exhibited is an original used for filming. Most are loaned from the archive of EON Productions and the Ian Fleming Foundation which restored many of the vehicles.
The exhibition features many Aston Martins, including the V12 Vanquish from Die Another Day. The stunt team heavily modified four of these 6-litre cars – two were destroyed in Iceland, with one smashing into an iceberg.
Also on show is the V8 from The Living Daylights. This car’s moment in the spotlight comes during the frozen lake scene where it sprouts outriggers, fires its rear-mounted rocket-booster and jumps a border-control checkpoint.
Meanwhile, the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldeneye features a fax machine built into the CD player and a bottle cooler for champagne.
A star of the show is undoubtedly Goldfinger’s Rolls-Royce Phantom III, which Bond pursues across the Alps. Another Rolls-Royce featured is the Silver Cloud II from A View to A Kill. This car belonged to James Bond producer Cubby Broccoli who lent it for the film-making.
In November the exhibition added the display “Cars of Spectre”, including Bond’s Aston Martin DB10 – which marks the first time the manufacturer created a car specifically for a Bond film – villain Hinx’s stunt Jaguar C-X75, and Franz Oberhauser’s Rolls-Royce Wraith.
The exhibition also includes motorcycles used in the films: a BMW R1200C that made a 13m leap between two buildings in Tomorrow Never Dies, and a Honda CRF250R from the opening scene of Skyfall.
The star of the motorcycle collection is the world’s first all-terrain bike – the Honda ATC 90. The bike, which featured in Diamonds Are Forever, was used on location in the Nevada desert.
Aircraft on display include the autogyro Little Nellie from You Only Live Twice, which has a fierce array of weaponry that includes front-mounted machine guns, rear-mounted flame throwers and a battery of rockets. Visitors can also see the Acrostar BD-5J jet that appeared in Octopussy, where Bond bids to escape troops somewhere in South America.
Visitors can also get up close and personal with Wet Nellie – the Lotus Esprit S1 – which transforms into a submersible with gadgets including a mine launcher and periscope in The Spy Who Loved Me. The exhibition also features the world’s first Wetbike. This forerunner of the jet ski, which appeared in The Spy Who Loved Me, features a 50bhp two-stroke Suzuki engine that delivers 500lb of thrust.
Also in the exhibition are the Q Boat from The World Is Not Enough and the Glastron GT-150 from Live and Let Die. Glastron provided 26 boats for the production, 17 of which were destroyed in rehearsals for the river chase.
The items in the exhibition are well presented, and each vehicle is accompanied by a film clip. An audio guide narrated by Bond stuntman Ben Collins is also available. Visitors can have their photo taken in Bond style, which will be printed out with the gun barrel and Bond In Motion logo. Entrance to the exhibition, which is near London’s Covent Garden, is a little expensive at £14.95 but is a must see for all Bond fans.
But selfie addicts be warned, you cannot use your flash anywhere in the museum.
Five things to see
1. Worth the Wraith:
The 1951 Rolls-Royce Wraith, which appeared in Spectre, is a new addition to the exhibition. The car was used to deliver stars to the world premiere.
2. Awesome Aston:
The DB10 on display is one of the stunt cars that took part in the Rome chase scene in Spectre. The sequence saw Bond take on villain Hinx in a Jaguar C-X75.
3. Small subs: The Bath-O-Sub from Diamonds Are Forever was used by villain Blofeld to escape his oil-rig HQ, but 007 intervenes and uses it is as a wrecking ball.
4. Memorable modes of transport: The Crocodile Submarine glides on to the screen when Bond approaches Octopussy’s floating palace. The sub is also in Die Another Day.
5. Gorgeous gifts: The gift shop is stocked with a range of James Bond licensed items, from car models in all sizes to mugs, posters, books and all the movies on DVD.
For more details, see: londonfilmmuseum.com