The biggest-ever exhibition of Bond cars is being promised for next year. The National Motor Museum in Beaulieu is pledging 50 vehicles from the long-running movie series to mark the half century since the release of the first Bond film.
As well as some of the more recent cars, organisers are promising an Aston Martin DB5 – the Goldeneye one – and the 1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger – Oddjob's wheels if we recall correctly.
Beaulieu commercial director Stephen Munn said: "Following the success of the first Bond cars exhibition stages at Beaulieu in 2001, we are delighted to be working with EON again on this new display, bringing together the world's largest collection of Bond vehicles."
The rest of the line-up is unconfirmed though we note the use of the word "vehicles" and suspect a lot of jet-skis and other such stuff will be interspersed with the actual cars to make up the 50 for the display that will run throughout 2012 at Beaulieu.
That said, if they can furnish us with the Toyota 2000GT from You Only Live Twice, the '69 Cougar and DBS from On Her Majesty's Secret Service and the Monique bus from Live and Let Die, we will be very happy. Oh, and the Esprits (complete with skis or fins as appropriate), the AMC Hornet and Matador from The Man with the Golden Gun, the Sunbeam Alpine from Dr No, the Triumph Stag from Diamonds are Forever and, never forgetting the Hispano-Suiza that made a brief appearance in Moonraker.
James Elliott is a former Editor of Classic & Sports Car