James Bond Cars On Display

Fifty original vehicles used in the James Bond films have been unveiled at an exhibition to help mark half a century of 007 at the movies. Bond stars such as Britt Ekland, Eunice Gayson and Colin Salmon were among the guests at the largest-ever display of James Bond film vehicles. Staged at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire, the Bond In Motion exhibition showcased cars, boats, motorbikes, sledges, jets and parachutes used over the past 50 years. The priceless collection included the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 and the 1937 Phantom III Rolls-Royce, both seen by millions of Bond lovers in Goldfinger. The Lotus Esprit S1, affectionately-named "Wet Nellie", from the Spy Who Loved Me, the Bede Acrostar jet famously flown in Octopussy and the BMW 750iL from Tomorrow Never Dies also featured. Other exhibits were the surfboard with hidden weapons from Die Another Day, the "Burial At Sea Bed" from You Only Live Once and the Boeing 747-inspired Casino Royale Skyfleet S570 model. Following the celebrity launch, the exhibition will open to the general public on January 17 and will run until December this year. The museum's commercial director Stephen Munn described the hosting of the famous vehicles as "a very exciting year for Beaulieu". The National Motor Museum has a collection of more than 250 vehicles, telling the story of motoring in Britain from its inception to the present day.