Interesting Update on Real "Locomotive"

superado

For those interested in the actual R-Type Bentley that likely inspired Fleming's Locomotive in TB (http://www.continental.org.uk/bond.htm), I found this update about the car given by the current owner, Stephen F. Brauer, who was the US Ambassador to Belgium from 2001 to 2003. This is the link to that publication, which may require certain settings or add-ons to view, http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/f142e3b9?page=122#/f142e3b9/116. If you don't want to trouble yourself fiddling around with this pretty large document, I've posted only the info relevant to the Chapron Bentley below:

Here are the related pics, and the excerpt from the article “Rally of Dreams: Arizona’s Copperstate 1000,” in The International Club for Rolls-Royce & Bentley Owners: Desk Diary 2009:

One of the last to arrive for lunch on Day Three is Stephen Brauer, driver of the velvet green 1954 Bentley R Continental, one of the most interesting cars in this year’s rally. I had heard, on opening day, that Brauer’s car had been Ian Fleming’s inspiration for “the Locomotive,” a car purchased by James Bond in the 1961 novel Thunderball. When I asked about it, Brauer handed me documentation of this connection: the Continental drophead coupé in which Bond gives chase to his future wife, Tracy di Vincenzo, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, does, in fact, bear such a strikingly detailed resemblance to this 1954 R Continental – down to the half-performed post-accident body restoration, the squared-off rear, and the 2-inch exhaust pipes – it seems probable that Fleming knew about the car. “

I actually collect postwar coach-built cars, and I have three R Continentals now,” says Brauer. “But I wasn’t even aware of the James Bond connection until after I bought it.” Searching for more information on the car – BC63LC – on the Internet, Brauer found an article on the Bond car at the online Continental registry, www.continental.org.uk. The car, apparently, had been wrecked in 1956, and the first owner had commissioned the British coach-builder H.J. Mulliner to rebuild it as a drophead coupé – but later switched to a less-expensive French coachbuilder, Chapron. It was this version – completed in 1958 and photographed in London at about the same time Fleming was working on Thunderball – that made its way into Brauer’s hands. “It needed restoration,” says Brauer. “And the more I looked at that ugly back end, the more I decided it wasn’t really worth doing. It had a terrible bench seat in it, and a bunch of other things that needed attention.” Brauer acquired a pair of original Continental seats from a dealer in England. “ We put it all together and then sent it out to have the whole rear quarter made from the Mulliner drawings.” The result – sleek, shapely, elegant – is a car that, even while parked outside the Pima Air and Space Museum, looks as if it’s gliding over the blacktop.

I'm still confused though whether or not Brauer actually altered the car, which seems to point to the latter, sad to think. For me, unfortunately, this leaves the most nagging mystery of how the rear of the Locomotive "actually" looked like. The smaller image isn't that clear but it looks like the rear was rounded off But if it was "squared-off" to begin with as Brauer described in the article, I wonder if it was radically angular according to Fleming's description of the rear being "The rest of the blunt end was all knife-edged rather ugly, trunk…" I just wish there were more photos of the Chapron bodywork from different angles especially the rear. Some may remember that I opted for the radical angular supposition for my own 1/6 Locomotive:



The other two things that still bug me, is how the dull finish of "battleship grey" looked like on Ivar Bryce's Bentley that Fleming bought on behalf of his friend, since on the Continental Registry website that car's original finish is listed as "deep grey" with "most chrome items including radiator shell painted body colour." Lastly, after searching the Internet, I've yet to find good reference photos of Bentley-suitable bucket seats that actually have armrests, per Fleming's description of "the most selfish car in the world" though I just read but don't remember where, that the Chapron Bentley did have a couple of large seats. If anyone else knows of any additional info or photos of the Chapron Bentley, I would greatly appreciate it!

Donald Grant

superado wrote:

For those interested in the actual R-Type Bentley that likely inspired Fleming's Locomotive in TB (http://www.continental.org.uk/bond.htm), I found this update about the car given by the current owner, Stephen F. Brauer, who was the US Ambassador to Belgium from 2001 to 2003. This is the link to that publication, which may require certain settings or add-ons to view, http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/f142e3b9?page=122#/f142e3b9/116. If you don't want to trouble yourself fiddling around with this pretty large document, I've posted only the info relevant to the Chapron Bentley below:

Here are the related pics, and the excerpt from the article “Rally of Dreams: Arizona’s Copperstate 1000,” in The International Club for Rolls-Royce & Bentley Owners: Desk Diary 2009:

One of the last to arrive for lunch on Day Three is Stephen Brauer, driver of the velvet green 1954 Bentley R Continental, one of the most interesting cars in this year’s rally. I had heard, on opening day, that Brauer’s car had been Ian Fleming’s inspiration for “the Locomotive,” a car purchased by James Bond in the 1961 novel Thunderball. When I asked about it, Brauer handed me documentation of this connection: the Continental drophead coupé in which Bond gives chase to his future wife, Tracy di Vincenzo, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, does, in fact, bear such a strikingly detailed resemblance to this 1954 R Continental – down to the half-performed post-accident body restoration, the squared-off rear, and the 2-inch exhaust pipes – it seems probable that Fleming knew about the car. “

I actually collect postwar coach-built cars, and I have three R Continentals now,” says Brauer. “But I wasn’t even aware of the James Bond connection until after I bought it.” Searching for more information on the car – BC63LC – on the Internet, Brauer found an article on the Bond car at the online Continental registry, www.continental.org.uk. The car, apparently, had been wrecked in 1956, and the first owner had commissioned the British coach-builder H.J. Mulliner to rebuild it as a drophead coupé – but later switched to a less-expensive French coachbuilder, Chapron. It was this version – completed in 1958 and photographed in London at about the same time Fleming was working on Thunderball – that made its way into Brauer’s hands. “It needed restoration,” says Brauer. “And the more I looked at that ugly back end, the more I decided it wasn’t really worth doing. It had a terrible bench seat in it, and a bunch of other things that needed attention.” Brauer acquired a pair of original Continental seats from a dealer in England. “ We put it all together and then sent it out to have the whole rear quarter made from the Mulliner drawings.” The result – sleek, shapely, elegant – is a car that, even while parked outside the Pima Air and Space Museum, looks as if it’s gliding over the blacktop.

I'm still confused though whether or not Brauer actually altered the car, which seems to point to the latter, sad to think. For me, unfortunately, this leaves the most nagging mystery of how the rear of the Locomotive "actually" looked like. The smaller image isn't that clear but it looks like the rear was rounded off But if it was "squared-off" to begin with as Brauer described in the article, I wonder if it was radically angular according to Fleming's description of the rear being "The rest of the blunt end was all knife-edged rather ugly, trunk…" I just wish there were more photos of the Chapron bodywork from different angles especially the rear. Some may remember that I opted for the radical angular supposition for my own 1/6 Locomotive:



The other two things that still bug me, is how the dull finish of "battleship grey" looked like on Ivar Bryce's Bentley that Fleming bought on behalf of his friend, since on the Continental Registry website that car's original finish is listed as "deep grey" with "most chrome items including radiator shell painted body colour." Lastly, after searching the Internet, I've yet to find good reference photos of Bentley-suitable bucket seats that actually have armrests, per Fleming's description of "the most selfish car in the world" though I just read but don't remember where, that the Chapron Bentley did have a couple of large seats. If anyone else knows of any additional info or photos of the Chapron Bentley, I would greatly appreciate it!

Superado,

Thank you for posting about this. I've always been interested in Bond's literary cars. Thanks for the links.

DG

j.blades

thanks for this, ive always had a real liking for bonds bentley, compared to the aston [which is still a great car.]