The Bite Magazine

as the opening sequence at Lake Garda

in Italy nears its climax, the Aston Martin

DBS swings into the Carrara marble

quarry minus its driver’s door. By the time

it exits, an action-packed minute later, its

bodywork and wheels are riddled with

bullet-holes and layered in dust. Visitors

to the exhibition will have the opportunity

to see one of the surviving vehicles on

display, featuring the damage sustained in

the quarry. Interestedly, in

Skyfall

(2012),

the art department used 3D printing for

the first time in the production of this film

and created a selection of Aston Martin

DB5 replicas. The one-third scale model

on display in a glass cabinet used in the

attack on Bond’s family estate shows the

magnitude of this fantastic technology.

Goldfinger

(1964), Bond is first seen

driving the Aston Martin DB5, but it is in

GoldenEye

(1995) that we see the secret

agent reunited with this stunning gold

number for the first time in 30 years.

The thrilling opening sequence of the film

captures Bond racing the Ferrari Spider

F355 GTS belonging to bad-girl Xenia

Onatopp (Famke Janssen) down twisting

mountain roads in the South of France.

One of the most intriguing and fascinating

vehicles to see at the exhibition has to

be the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from

Goldfinger

(1964) and the Rolls-Royce

Silver Cloud II from

A View to a Kill

(1985).

These stunning and prestigious cars are in

my opinion, a sight for sore eyes and their

beauty effortlessly shines through. In the

1964 Bond film, Goldfinger’s magnificent

Rolls-Royce appears at the golf course

where Bond places a homing device

aboard. He tracks the car across the

Alps into Switzerland where it is stripped

down to reveal a horde of smuggled

gold. The 1937 vehicle is thought to have

been custom-built for the Rt. Hon. Lord

Fairhaven of Anglesey Abbey. In

A View to

a Kill,

the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II is

driven by Sir Godfrey Tibbett (Patrick

Macnee) who masquerades as Bond’s

chauffeur as he drives 007 to the French

chateau of the villainous Max Zorin. The

assassin May Day (Grace Jones) strikes

en-route and Bond only escaped a watery

grave by breathing air from the tyres. The

car belonged to James Bond producer,

Cubby Broccoli, who lent it for the

production. Another vehicle that

caught my eye was the gorgeous

Aston Martin V12 Vanquish labelled

‘the Vanish’ by Q in

Die Another

Day

(2002) with Pierce Brosnan simply

because it could disappear on cue. For this

vehicle, the stunt team heavily modified

four examples of the 6.0-litre original

Vanquish for Bond’s battle with the

villainous Zao’s Jaguar XKR on the frozen

lake. With four-wheel-drive systems and

smaller 300bhp V8 engines fitted to the

body shell, it took three months to build

and two were destroyed during the shoot

at Jökulsárlón in Iceland. The Vanquish

on display is the only car to house a full

complement of weapons.

But it isn’t just the cars alone that make

the Bond in Motion such a brilliant and

worthwhile exhibition to visit. Among the

props and memorabilia from the films,

you’ll find machines such as the Acrostar

BD-5J Jet and Crocodile Submarine from

Octopussy

(1983), Q Boat from

TheWorld Is

Not Enough

(1999),WetBike (a forerunner

of the ski-jet) and Spear Gun Sled from

The

SpyWho Loved Me

(1977) and Underwater

Tow Sled from

Never Say Never Again

(1983).You’ll even be privy to the passports

carried by Bond’s Pierce Brosnan and

Daniel Craig, his evaluation reports,

Omega watches, wallets and weaponry.

As a keepsake, there is a brochure covering

the exhibition priced at £12.00 as well as a

café where you can sit down and rest your

legs while having a cup of tea or coffee.

Or if you’re feeling energetic, you could

try your hand at manoeuvring a Bond car

along a racing track or play the GoldenEye

slot machine.The gift shop has everything

Bond from posters, key-rings, pens and

badges to DVDs, books, aftershave and

Casino Royale games.

Bond in Motion at the London Film

Museum, 45 Wellington Street, London

WC2E 7BN is running until March 2015 so

prepare to get shaken not stirred as soon

as you can.

www.londonfilmmuseum.com

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