So what car did Ian Fleming’s James Bond really drive?
Forget that Aston Martin / Lotus / BMW nonsense; Bond was a Bentley man.
And when you have an actual car designer who was a devoted Bond fan in his youth… well, you get this wonderful creature, handbuilt and derived from another Bentley model altogether.
Never mind that Ian Fleming’s description of said Bentley never existed; Our Hero Car Designer (Tony Hunter) just went ahead and designed and built his Bentley pretty much from the writer’s description — and the result is a one-of-a-kind, snorting, roaring beauty.
Old W.O. would have approved, mightily.
So would (the real) James Bond.
looks like they ran out of chrome halfway down the car from the front. Front looks interesting and the back looks bland.
Rear fenders seem kinda bulky and don’t match the front end.
Overall, it has a WWII feel to it.
As I recall from reading the first bond book at 14 in 1961 ( Casino Royal – hard cover checked out from the Town Library – I don’t think Blue haired Massachusetts Libirans had a clue as to the contents of the book. If they had, they never would have let me check the book out – Blue laws were still a thing – everything was closed on Sunday – and Liberians saw themselves as the protectors of morality ) the first Bond Car was a 1930 Blower Bentley one of the Bently Boys ex race cars. It was destroyed in Thunderball and replaced with a Mark II Continental. ( more like the car in the Photo. )
Bentleys ( and Rolls ) always could be ordered with Coach Work done to your specs drict from the Factory.
Wasn’t it described as one of the “last of the Big Bore Bentleys”?
I forget which novel that phrase appeared in.
Looks like they bolted half of a ‘56 Pontiac onto the rear end.
Meh. The backside reminds me of fat-assed women who shouldn’t wear spandex.
Exactly.
Even the one he received a telephone call in at the very beginning of “From Russia With Love.” didn’t have such a fat-assed trunk.
Perhaps Tony Hunter has a significant other who is noted for packing heavily for an overnighter.
This is only one lottery win away from my garage…..
https://drives.today/articles/1671/retro/1950-bentley-blizzard-roadster.html
Not usually a fan of recreations, but oooooohhhhhh…..
The rear end looks like the designer wanted to imitate the American tail-fin cars, but didn’t dare. So he bulged up the rear fenders to create fat tail-fins.