Report from the opening of Bond In Motion at Petersen Museum

By: Mark Cerulli

Published:
2021-09-25

Bond In Motion, Peterson Automotive Museum

As the U.S. countdown to No Time To Die nears the end, the entire 60 year history of Bond rolled into LA’s world famous The Petersen Automotive Museum for the debut of the latest Bond In Motion exhibit.

FSWL was invited to the opening night party as a guest of The Ian Fleming® Foundation which owns and restored many of the iconic vehicles. (Four cars from the films including No Time To Die were loaned by EON Productions.)

Several hundred invitees mingled with car enthusiasts AND five timeless Bond girls – Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball), Maud Adams (The Man with the Golden Gun, Octopussy), Gloria Hendry (Live and Let Die), Lynn-Holly Johnson (For Your Eyes Only) and Mary Stavin (Octopussy, A View to a Kill). Everyone was in high spirits, enjoying each other’s company and a welcome break from Covid isolation.

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum stage talk

IFF co-founders Doug Redenius and Michael VanBlaricum onstage with the Bond Girls. Photo by Mark Cerulli. All rights reserved.

As guests arrived, they were greeted by THE chase helicopter from 1963's From Russia with Love. Inside, Peterson did a first-class job of displaying each vehicle in context, with clips from its screen use playing behind many of them – from Diamonds Are Forever’s 1971 Mustang Mach 1 (AND a WW Techtronics ATV), The Spy Who Loved Me’s underwater Lotus to the Glastron GT-150 jump boat from 1973's Live and Let Die and Bond’s hang glider from 1979's Moonraker. Even the massive submarine from 1981's For Your Eyes Only was polished up and ready for a close-up. Over 34 vehicles and production-used models in all.

It’s a one-of-a-kind collection that took almost three decades to build. EON loaned a heavily damaged Aston Martin DBS, fresh from its Guinness World Record 7x rollover in Casino Royale. “Most movie cars use an air cannon for a rollover,” IFF co-founder Doug Redenius explains, “...but this vehicle had an advanced anti-rollover program built into it, so they had to use a higher rate of speed and other devices to achieve it.”

DHL provided the precision transport of eight of the rare vehicles, so several of their distinctive yellow vans were on site, each dressed with the 007 logo.

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum DHL

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum DHL

For this writer, the real “star” of the show was the immaculate 1964 Aston Martin DB5 seen in five Bond films including No Time To Die. It was polished to a sheen and as gorgeous as Fiona Volpe – an automotive work of art! (Thanks to IFF member and FSWL founder Anders Frejdh, I was invited to the load-in and got to sit in the fabled car. I can attest that a certain red button is still there!)

The evening started with a rooftop cocktail party complete with gaming tables (and vodka), then Doug Redenius and IFF chairman Michael VanBlaricum discussed the IFF’s history of finding and preserving these important vehicles. They wrapped up their talk by inviting the lovely ladies of Bond up onstage – where Luciana asked “Where is my motorcycle?” The actress was referring to Fiona’s deadly 1965 BASF A65 Lightning. Redenius answered that he’s been looking for it. (If anyone can find it, he can.)

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum rooftop

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum rooftop

After the Bond Girls cut the red ribbon, the exhibit was officially opened and people walked around slack-jawed to be so close to these legendary vehicles. There were plenty of compliments and the IFF couldn’t be more pleased with the end result - “I think it’s the best thing we’ve ever done,” Redenius told FSWL, adding, “the set decorations, artwork, and arrangement that Peterson did is superior to anything we’ve done in the past. They have been so great to work with.”

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum ribbon cutting

Bond In Motion Petersen Automotive Museum ribbon cutting

All in all, it was a truly epic evening and a great way to kick off the season of No Time To Die!

Want to help the IFF continue finding and restoring James Bond vehicles? You can contribute to them at ianflemingfoundation.org.

All text. Copyright © 2021 Mark Cerulli. All rights reserved.

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Report from the opening of Bond In Motion at Petersen Museum

All in all, it was a truly epic evening and a great way to kick off the season of No Time To Die!

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