BOND BOATS IN LONDON

For more pictures of James Bond props and gadgets, click HERE

Earls Court, London - January 2002

  Thanks to the dedication of a small band of men at the Ian Fleming Foundation, many vehicles that have featured in the Bond films have been rescued from the scrap heap. Some of the more aquatic of these vehicles were on display recently in the capital.

  The London Boat Show is an annual event that draws crowds in the hundreds of thousands over a ten-day period. Watercraft of all shapes and sizes were on display, ranging in price from hundreds to millions of pounds. The boats that I had come to see were attracting a large amount of interest from young and old.

  Towering over her smaller brethren was the Queen of the Bond boats, the Sunseeker Superhawk 34. Piloted by the Cigar Girl in ‘The World Is Not Enough’, this sleek powerboat is capable of 54 knots (62 mph). At the stern of the Sunseeker was the Cigar Girl's impressive looking gun, a Heckler & Koch G36 rifle.

Click on the Q-Boat for more photos

Sneaking under the hull was the Q-boat, a highly modified Bentz boat with all the gadgets one comes to expect from a Bond vehicle. This version was used for the road sequence, where Bond, pursued by Police cars, demolishes a fish market and a restaurant in his dash for the Millennium Dome.

  At the front of the display area was Blofeld's Bath-O-Sub, used in ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ by Bond’s nemesis to escape his oil-drilling platform HQ before it exploded. This is one of only two built for the film, and has an opening canopy with a non-functioning interior.

  Next was the Tow-Sled from ‘Thunderball’, used underwater by both Bond and the villain, Largo. Only two remain from the 14 built by Jordan Klein for the 1965 film.

  Nestling under the bow of the Sunseeker was the Wet-Bike, used in his journey to Atlantis by 007 in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’. This was the world’s first water born motorbike.

  All the boats were well displayed in an area dressed to look like the seabed, with panels showing posters from the relevant films, and scrolling video information screens giving details of the boats and their use in the films. 

All theses boats (minus the Sunseeker), together with many more vehicles and props from the Ian Fleming Foundation's collection, are now appearing at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire.  

Click here for full details

 For more information on the Ian Fleming Foundation Bond Vehicle Collection please email Doug Redenius

For more pictures of James Bond props and gadgets, click HERE

©2002 D.J.Williams