Title exhibit of the "Bond In Motion" exhibit at the Petersen
Automotive Museum's Mullin Grand Salon 1st Floor exhibit space.
Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
Motor Culture Bond Girls Galore On Display In "Bond In Motion" Petersen
Museum Exhibit
This month, the long delayed and anticipated 25th edition of the 007 Bond
feature length movie series "No Time To Die" was released to be shown in
theaters only opened on Friday, October 8th, 2021. The worldwide opening came
to a very successful $330,000,000 box office weekend and marked the end of the
Daniel Craig era of the 007 Bond saga.
Billboard displays at the AMC16 in Burbank opening day of the
feature presentation in the Dolby Sound enhanced Theater #14 of "No
Time To Die." It is recommended that one watch both Casino Royal
(2006) and Spectre (2015) before taking in "No Time To Die" so that
one's mind is fresh with the storylines that feed this 25th edition
of Bond, James Bond. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
Just one week in advance of this 25th film in the series was released, the
Petersen Automotive Museum opened a new exhibit of the 007 Bond movie
franchise titled "Bond In Motion" which features more than 30 cars, motorcycles, boats, submarines, helicopters and even scale filming models of aircraft from an array of both classic and contemporary Bond films. This exhibit represents some of the most
memorable and indelible 3D vehicle art that, in their own way, delivered
"Bond, James Bond" through motor culture creations (some custom, and some just
perfect for the time of Bond) as strong as the story lines
themselves.
007 graphic from the exhibit hall floor. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks
(2021)
Bond 007 graphic from the top of the exhibit hall staircase. Image
Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
This exhibit is impressive on many levels, from the detail of the exhibit
descriptions to the general display throughout the environment itself. One of
the initial exhibits upon entering the hall that will command one's attention
is the Bond defining 007 gun-enhanced graphic (above) placed in a two-story
three-dimensional exhibit in the middle of the signature circular staircase
that is a defining structural element of the Mullin Grand Salon.
This 1964 Silver Birch Aston Martin appears as the repeat signature
motor culture Bond Girl ever since it first appeared in EON
Productions' 1964 film Goldfinger. This heart-warming beauty went on
to appear in Thunderball (1965), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never
Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015)
and No Time To Die (2021). In addition, the vehicle has appeared in
the video-games 007 Racing (2000), Agent Under Fire (2001), From
Russia with Love (2005), Blood Stone (2010), James Bond: World of
Espionage (2015) and the Best of Bond DLC for Forza Horizon 4
(2018).Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
As one might guess, an Aston Martin, especially a DB5, is never too far from
one's gaze. The very first vehicle happens to be just that - a perfect DB5 in
every way as shown in many of the 007 Bond films as a reoccurring friend -
even in the last No Time To Die installment.
But enough about the easy hits ... what about the "Nellie" factor? A vehicle
title that shows up twice - one is an up armored. assemble on demand, aircraft and the other is a
luxury sports car that doubles as a submarine.
LITTLE NELLIE
Bond flying Little Nellie in You Only Live Twice - Image Credit:
JamesBondMemes.blogspot.com
Little Nellie (Wallis WA-116 Series 1) - Featured in You Only Live
Twice (1967). A heavily armed gyrocopter that could be transported
in several cases and quickly assembled in the field. Little Nellie,
was designed and built by Wing Commander Ken Wallis and flown by him
in the film, is one of the most celebrated vehicles in the James
Bond series. In the film, James Bond uses the autogyro, supplied by
Q Branch, to give reconnaissance of the Japanese landscape to find
out where SPECTRE’s rockets might be launching from. A cine-camera
fixed to Bond's helmet allowed him to photograph every inch. Image
Credit Edmund Jenks (2012)
On the exhibit floor, Little Nellie appears as a graphic in the exhibit
description that features a model of a Helicopter used in You Only Live Twice
(1967) by SPECTRE to protect their missile/rocket launch site.
SPECTRE security used this Bell Helicopter to chase off James Bond
flying Little Nellie. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
Exhibit description on a patrol helicopter model used in filming
You Only Live Twice (1967). Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
WET NELLIE
The Lotus Esprit S1 (or Series 1) is a sports car that was built by Lotus in
the United Kingdom between 1976 and 1978. The car gained fame through its
appearance in the 1977 film, The Spy Who Loved Me, where it was featured in a
long chase sequence on the Italian island of Sardinia; ultimately converting
into a submarine. Appearing in the film's tie-in novelization and video game,
the Esprit also featured in Storm Bringer (1985), 007 Racing (2000) and the
Best of Bond DLC for Forza Horizon 4 (2018).
Q's Wet Nellie as it appears on exhibit with a moving light
splashed over the exterior so as to emulate the Lotus Esprit S1 as a
submarine under the water. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
OTHER "NELLIES" - as nominated
Custom vehicles that could have carried the the moniker Nellie given their
unusual nature are scattered throughout the Bond In Motion exhibit. These
apparatus tools, given their unique function and special appearances, earn a
vote to be nominated Nellies simply because of the fun they bring to their
film stories as the original Nellies had delivered..
Two candidates for the tag Nellie come from the movie Diamonds Are Forever
(1971) for vehicles designed and/or built by two of the most famous
customizers of craft in the film industry.
MOON BUGGY NELLIE - Built by Dean Jefferies
In the exhibit that features motor culture memorabilia from Diamonds Are
Forever, the featured exhibit that shows a Honda ATV-90 vehicle that James
Bond commanders to escape Willard Whyte's Tectronics Laboratory patrol agents
as they try to track him down while he escapes a laboratory in a Moon Buggy.
1971 HONDA ATC-90. Image Credit : Edmund Jenks (2021)
Dean Jefferies crafted Moon Buggy. Image Credit: MGM/EON
Productions via The James Bond Dossier (2015)
James Bond (Sean Connery) escapes Tectronics Laboratory located in
the desert outside of Las Vegas in an experimental bubble-domed Moon
Buggy that was in the laboratory's warehouse. Image Credit: Edmund
Jenks (2021)
BATH-O-SUB NELLIE - Built by Barris Kustom Industries
This unique marine vehicle plays a pivotal role in Diamonds Are Forever where
James Bond gets the upper hand against arch-enemy and head of SPECTRE, Ernst
Stavro Blofeld.
Nellie candidate Bath-O-Sub with SPECTRE logo on the nose. Image
Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
Exhibit description of Bath-O-Sub. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks
(2021)
Exhibit description of Bath-O-Sub scene with image. Image Credit:
Edmund Jenks (2021)
The last nominee for adding the name Nellie to a motor culture "Bond Girl"
found inside of the Bond In Motion very special exhibit inside of the
Mullin Grand Salon is originally called the Q Boat ... or as listed in the
Salon as the Q Jet Boat..
PORPOISING NELLIE (Q Boat)
Featured in The World Is Not Enough (1999), PORPOISING NELLIE (Q Boat) was
created by Q as a "fishing boat" for his retirement.
Q Boat as displayed on the floor of the Mullin Grand Salon. Image Credit: Edmund Jenks (2021)
This unique craft came
with missiles, torpedos, and a GPS tracking system. It could also submerge (porpoise)
although the pilot either needed to have his own breathing apparatus or
surface quickly before he drowned. However, this feature wasn't exactly
finished when James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) took it for the defining opening
action sequence which could account for why the pilot was exposed to the
water when using that function.
There are many, many honorable mentions amongst these motor culture Bond Girls that
could qualify as being dubbed a Nellie, and one may wish to explore the possibilities at the Petersen Automotive Museum soon.
Maybe, a good time might come just after taking in the latest in the 25 movie
series, and Daniel Craig's final episode, No Time To Die in theaters only.
