Mr. Hunter saying you either have enough money to play someone to do it or "learn to do it yourself" as you two discussed that magnificent dashboard was a triumph of humility and an exemplar of fine character if ever I heard one. This is my favorite episode. Ever.
What an interesting chap. The fact that there are people crafting things like this in sheds and garages across England is a great reason to love this country!
Part of the issue of the perception of Bond driving a DB5 is due, in part, to the order the books were filmed. A car didn’t feature in Dr No or From Russia With Love, however an Aston Martin DB3 did feature in the 3rd book filmed “Goldfinger” which the movie updated the car to a DB5, full of gadgets. This was the movie adaption that really set the mould for future movie adaptions, being the seventh written novel. Had the original movie series started with Casino Royal, it would have been a Bentley.
@@davidgifford8112That’s incorrect . A DB3 is a real car as is the DB2/4 MkIII aka the MkIII. Fleming incorrectly described the Aston Martin as a DBIII which doesn’t exist.
Have you thought of a Chrysler 300c? They're no Bentley, but they're beautifully appointed with enough power and excellent brakes. Road holding is good, too
That is properly werid Jack! I was listening to the audiobook of "Thunderball" last night and this morning where this very car was described in detail and struggling a little to picture it. Here you've got and driven the car! The description mentions matt battleship grey paint and a convertible body applied to a former saloon chassis. Fascinating video, what a treat!
From Sydney, Australia. This is the BEST custom built car I have ever seen in my 68 years, simply stunning. 40 years ago I bought a 1957 Bentley S series Continental Coupe with the sloping back just like the R series version, it was in a dark/deep silver with rich blue leather, NSW rego DOM-777 I paid then $60,000 which then in '82 was a third the price of a new W126 560SEL Mercedes that the same dealer was selling. Some years later I sold it to buy a house and doubled what I paid for it. They are spectacular, the R and S types with the dramatically sloping back, are like no other car Georgina and I would go on night drives in it for no reason, it was like a drug, you would look at it and just want to drive it. I'm glad that I used mine as often that I did, we drove it all around the country on holidays too. Best thing is/was that the big 4.9 litre 6-cylinder engines are long lasting too and give no grief. Now in 2024 the R series slope back Bentley Continentals are a $500,000 car that is hoarded away and sadly just never seen on the road. NOTHING like this is made now, all the new supposed luxury cars are just plasticky globs with an array of computer screens about as interesting as a fridge or washing machine, no soul.
Wow! Tony Hunter deserves a tremendous amount of credit for bringing this car into real life! Notes for those interested: In the very first book, "Casino Royale" (1953) Bond's car is a 1930 Blower Bentley. The only movie that comes close to showing this is the spoof, "Casino Royale" (1967), where David Niven drives a 1923 Bentley 3 Litre with a fake blower put on the front to make it more Bond accurate. In "From Russia With Love" , he drove a 1935 Bentley 3.5 Litre Drophead Coupe Park Ward, and in "Never Say Never Again" a 1937 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Gurney Nutting 3-Position-Drophead Coupe makes an appearance.
Good chronology of the cinematic Bentley glimpses, but the 4 1/2 liter didn't appear 'til 1927, and the 50 supercharged versions of that model 'til 1929.
@@oogieobanyon Yes! ... I have corrected my mistake. The 1967 Casino Royale car really had me searching for accurate information ( there is much inaccurate info out there) ... the fake blower in the front really had me stumped as they came into being later.
I would say this IS your best video upload ever. Delighted that you chose to introduce and feature the very modest owner / designer who clearly has so much intimate knowledge, passion and skill! A beautiful creation!
Ah man, as someone who would love to do car design of any type, it's so fascinating hearing stuff like this from a car designer, and also connecting my love of Bond. Absolutely love when these automotive "what ifs" get actually answered with an actual car.
What a wonderful and worthwhile thing for a man to do in his life: bring something fabulous that exists only in fiction into reality. The car is simply spectacular. Thanks so much to Tony for creating the car and letting us share in its beauty. Many thanks to you for staying on task and making and sharing this video and leaving me spellbound.
@Number27 Jack you just made one of my all time favourite videos! As a fellow petrolhead and huge Bond fan since I was a child, this car is probably one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen! It truly captures all of the elements of Fleming as well as Bond! Thank you so much for sharing this incredible car with all of us! Cheers!
Possibly not preceded by 'I like ...' in the company of someone that might fulfill that desire. Unless she's also got the twinkle, and knows she's going to be In Charge. ;-)
If you have ever tried to hustle a big 1980s motorcycle down a lovely winding road, you would understand the experience. A more politicly correct simile than the one chosen. It still boils down to skill and equipment can only take you so far. You can't break the Newton's laws of motion. Mass requires force applied to it to change direction and that force is needed is proportional to the mass.
What an incredibly beautiful car, everything is correct, the styling, the interior, the color and appearance. Walter Owen Bentley personally would certainly have approved the production of a car like this in the earlier days. 💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻
It is sad that GT cars in general have been neglected in favor of cars with useless levels and acceleration and top speed. I live in the US where it is entirely possible to drive 1000 miles and more per day. In my foolish youth, I had very high-performance American cars, but turning high mileages on trips was literally exhausting. This looks like a car that I could travel that kind of distance. I am also delighted that this gentleman stuck with the beautiful in-line six. Thank you so much for this video! Best wishes from Texas.
but you can never legally drive fast in the US, can you? or do people just floor it on those emply roads in the endless midwest anyway, hoping they won't run into a speed camera or police patrol
@@Blackadder75 1) there are many parts of the US where the speed limit is 85 mph (137 mph). At least in my opinion, that's plenty fast for the average driver and the average car. Of course, copying one of Rowan Atkinson's TV series, you might think of higher speeds. I doubt in the UK that that would happen. I live in Texas, slightly larger than France. And no, the midwest is far from endless; one would think that more in the American West. 2) As far as I'm aware, there are no "speed camera" installations on our public highways, and very few in cities across our nation. Frankly, here in Texas they'd get shot out very quickly; remember, gun ownership for most of the US is completely legal. Personally, I like the idea of speed cameras but I'm in a minority here. So tell me, Rowan Atkinson fan, what do you consider a reasonable high speed for grand touring, say, 12 hours at a stretch as can be easily done here? Again, best wishes from Texas.
Correction. With the exception of the freakish and incredibly illegal setup of the Cannonball cross country runs, it is entirely for an average citizen to drive 1000 miles and more per day. That would be 10 hours at an average of 100 mph. Apart from driver fatigue, there is the slight problem of finding enough open road and sufficiently few cops.
@@mctavish199 In my career as a health care administrator I drove 1000-mile days routinely. Yes, they were 16-hour days in comfortable company cars, often on interstates. Do the math.
As a child living in far Northern California my dad would drive the whole family in our 1961 Plymouth station wagon on our annual vacation from Redding to Kalispell, MT in 16-18 hours. The distance was ~ 1000 miles. A month later we made the return trip. There were no freeways back then and the car had a 170 c.i. slant 6 cylinder engine.
What a wonderful piece of art, forgive me for calling it that but as it is a 'special' then I think 'art' is a worthy description. I used to be involved with the custom car scene and we would redesign parts of a car but this is a whole other level. Well done to Tony for building the car and his attention to detail is second to none in my opinion. Thank you Jack for sharing this car with us viewers and thank you to Tony for allowing you to drive it, a joy to watch! 👍👍
Mr. Hunter is a modern unsung hero who by conjuring up, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears no doubt, a childhood dream that also brought much joy to many other people. Thanks very much Jack for the effort you made in producing this video.
Jack. Please thank Tony. I am an American fan of James Bond. I happen to have a couple of 1st Printings Bond books. Tony's Continental MKII is exquisite. It seems that my garage is missing something. Very nice as always Jack.
Excellent! As a big fan of the James Bond books, the character, and his tastes, this project is particularly impressive. Really appreciate the consideration and hard work made by Mr. Hunter. Thanks for sharing.
I’m watching this dreaming about this beautiful car with me at the wheel, driving along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. Glorious, absolutely Glorious.
Amazing. Initially I thought it was ugly (as Fleming describes) but the more you look at it, the more you love it. It's incredibly detailed. And knowing it's all aluminium too makes it even more desirable. Well done for getting this up on UA-cam, Jack.
This is Fantastic! Great video and story. I worked on a Bentley Continental that was purchased new by Ian Fleming for his friend Ivar Bryce who was the inspiration for Felix Leiter. The car I worked was not a convertible. It came to me with a seized engine after decades of neglected storage. My job was to get it running and driving while disturbing it as little as possible. I believe that car is currently for sale at Gull Wing Motors in New York.
For those who are not Bond nutters... In Goldfinger Bond asks where his Bentley is when the DB5 is introduced (wonderful scene)! Should have been in his garage... The opening of FRWL has him on the Bentley car phone bringing the liason with Sylvia Trench to an end (The girl he met in the casino in Dr No when he utters those infamous words, 'Bond, James Bond').
I've tried to imagine what the car would be like from Flemming's description in the books. Tony pretty well nailed it. Well done old cahp, splendid work.
Speechless!! Those late 1950s early 1960s...a time when race car, road car, sports car were not too distant or different from one another. What a fantastic tribute!!
It is a Bond car and maybe the best one of all. It should have been a movie car and maybe it could still be. I think it would be really cool to re-imagine the old Bond books on film. More close to the original intent Ian Fleming wrote about. Thanks Tony for sharing you wonderful car. Cheers.
What a lovely car and what a lovely story too. As owner of both an R type and an SI Continetal (Flying Spur) I think Tony Hunter had enabled every Bentley owner to feel proud just to be associated with his really attractively bodied version, and I thought his explanation of the 'Hindsight' switch crowned a joyously imaginitive creation. Well done and thank you!
For me the rear three-quarter view works wonderfully, it gives the impression of a rapidly moving automobile as drawn by a 50's illustrator for a book. The world needs more people like Tony Hunter.
Exactly what I was aiming for…well spotted…I pushed the rear wing intersection forward a bit for exactly that reason… (and thank you, although my wife would argue one like me is quite enough!)
I began reading the Bond books in 1962, when I was recuperating from a gunshot wound I received 2 days after my 21st birthday. I loved everything about the books, but I don’t remember anything about this car. In any case, this car is beyond gorgeous.
You've outdone yourself Tony and have officially "one upped" the competion. As a life long Bond fanatic (of the books as well as the movies) this is beyond excellent. "I never joke about my work, Bond" It sounds like an airplane when it rides by! Cheers!
I saw that car in the metal, some time ago. I recognised it almost immediately, from my memory of reading Thunderball as a teenager. I'd say that it is a pretty faithful recreation of that car.
If you don’t think your electronic devices are listening to you, you’re wrong. I am re-reading the books and just finished Thunderball a week ago. Now this pops up in my feed today. Thank you for building this car. It’s amazingly close to what I imagined while reading the books.
I remember reading On Her Majesty's Secret Service in about 1973 aged about 11. The description of the car was largely lost on me at the time except for the replacement of the Bentley mascot. Fantastic car - literally
Oh god Jack, that is a um... beautiful car. Thank you Tony, you have exceptional taste and skill and a very generous man to show the car and allow Jack to drive it.
That was common on US cars before we switched from RHD to LHD. My dad had a 1912 Locomobile with the 4-speed shifter (virtually unknown at the time when almost all cars were 3 speeds) mounted outside the bodywork on the right hand side.
Just stunning Jack, but I'm somewhat disappointed that it doesn't have the passenger ejector seat so that you could have exited Tony and given it a proper thrashing. Thanks to Tony for allowing us to experience this work of art.
American watching from the State of Rhode Island in the U.S.-never owned a foreign car-let alone a British vintage example-not necessarily-"against"-them-probably just so used to the American car psychology-but of course can appreciate the vintage Bond stuff-not to mention car craftsmanship-& this thing is an absolute marvel of exquisite craftsmanship-amazing-thanks for the share-Much peace all!
I too grew up with the Fleming novels. Luckily, it was the guns I fixated on rather than the cars, so I haven't had to spend a fortune to play at being Bond. This car is amazing, and I think he absolutely nailed in every way.
Well that was simply,......Amazing!!! I remember as a youngster also reading about the adventures and missions of James Bond - 007 and the description of his Bentley the "Locomotive"! Seeing it now as an actual driving car is just Fantastic!! I hope that whenever Tony fits the supercharger to that lovely straight six, he might bring it around again just for the pleasure of hearing that unmistakable whine as the supercharger spits compressed air into that engine while at speed!!! A very large Thank-you to Tony for bringing this Icon of a car down so that you could feature it in an episode. If there was ever a follow up episode to a car, this one would be the one to do it with!!! Cheers - Dave
What a fantastic thing to do and also a great video. This definitely deserves a cameo in one of the future movies and should even be made into a model as that’s the closest we can get to owning it.
Great stuff! I too discovered the Bond books at about 8 years old, and remember lying on the floor behind the sofa, very warm, not understanding many of the undercurrents but, being a car nut (still the same 60 years on) enjoying the journey. The Bentley is the one that I visualised the most, and this recreation (or creation) is just how it looked in my imagination, as I knew the 'R' Type Continental from magazine pictures.
Thank you Mr Hunter and Jack, I live in the US and don't get much classic Bentley exposure, I was delighted to see the 4.9 liter in line 6 under the hood. Many a truck user here in the US would recognize this set up as the English version of the great ford truck engine. I had an in line 6 with a 5 speed manual transmission in my favorite F 150! I have always wondered what the engine would be like in a roadster. Great torque, very powerful, super reliable, and not bad on gas consumption. Just a dream come true for me, thanks again
My gratitude to Mr. Hunter for allowing his build to be showcased, and to Jack for featuring it here. The history lessons have been very fascinating, and I've learned much about older Bentleys in the process as well.
What a stunning car Tony has created. So great to see these being driven rather than shown too. Please can we have a video update once the super charger is fitted 🤤
I am gobsmacked by this beautiful machine! Vintage 1953-54 Bentley Continental "the Locomotive" open sports roadster in battleship grey! An extremely attractive and unique design! Very Bond, very Ian Fleming, from the novels, not the movies. I would love to see Sean Connery circa 1960 as 007 with this car, and an older Connery as Bond in retirement with grey moustache and beard, with this car circa 1990. A phenomenal classic vintage Bentley, a real work of art and an original one-off showcar that looks absolutely factory custom built by Bentley as a Mark II model. I must share this! Thank you so much!
Amazing video! I first read the Bond books back in the mid 60s as a 10-11 year old and I have always wondered what his Bentley would have looked and driven like. Now after all these years I know. Thanks Tony for a fabulous car. Thanks Jack for a truly historic video for Number 27.
By far the best episode ever...I am just trying to absorb what I just watched. Thank you Jack, you just turned an average day into a great one by just showing this beautiful car...
Huge, huge surprise from this channel! Well worth it to watch an amazing car! Congratulations and thank you very much to the owner to allow us to see it a bit.
What a remarkable car, and an excellent example of man's passion for automobiles. I'm typically much more interested in modern cars and tech, but Tony's reimagining of this Bond Bentley is wonderful!
That format was great as well having the camera on you both with interesting chat Tony comes across as a cool eccentric chap with an ace sense of humour 👍👍
Great to see such dedication from a professional car designer, taking on such a project, and delivering such an outstanding example of vehicle 'realisation' (of a written concept), and bringing it to life. Thanks Tony Hunter!
What an amazing project! Not only as a very fitting tribute to the Bond legacy, but also as an example of personal dreams being realized with hard work and diligence.
What a lovely episode, of which I enjoyed very much! A big shout out to Mr. Hunter for allowing us the audience, to enjoy his creation and the wonderful back story.
1:30 It also mentions in Moonraker, when he's beaten Drax at Blades, who says to him "Spend it quickly, Mr Bond" that he contacts Rolls-Bentley the next day to order a new car. It's years since I read the book so I can't remember the exact details but I think that it's referring back to the original description of the locomotive in Casino Royale. I think that at the end of Moonraker he takes delivery of his new Bentley, but memory might be at fault here.
That was a great video. What a lovingly crafted vehicle. I also read the James Bond books as a child, but I had forgotten that Ian Fleming included so many specifics of Bond's cars.
The build quality of this project is insane! I would stand beside this and never guess this wasn't a factory Bentley. I wouldn't hesitate to compare this to the Aston Martin DB4 Jet from Bertone in quality and execution. What this gentleman built here is amazing and astonishing and only possible due to his extensive knowledge, care and his qualifications. This is the perfect alignment of so many factors that caused this car to become reality.
I have often thought that Bond’s Bentley was a fictional form of an unmade Bentley. Fleming was a friend of Amhurst Villiers (see Villiers’ portrait of Fleming in the National Portrait Museum) . I wondered if the car in the books was based on a Villiers’ dream of adding a supercharger to the pre-war Bentley models after Royce’s took them over. I usually imagined it as a supercharged low slung 3 1/2 model. This model comes very close, running boards would have made it perfect. A delightful project I remain jealous of the owner.
This is the first but not the only Bentley owned by James Bond. 4.5 L 1930 Convertible coupe, A 1935 Bentley 3½ Litre Drophead Coupe Park Ward with car-phone can seen in the beginning of the movie From Russia With Love (1963). In the movie Never Say never Again (1983), Bond drives a 1937 Bentley 4¼ Litre Gurney Nutting 3-Position-Drophead Coupé. In the novel Thunderball he acquires a wreck of a Bentley Mark II Continental, restores it and customises it, and calles it "The Locomotive". Bond purchases a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo (British racing green with magnolia interior). Jamesbondlifestyle has an article about it.
It's one of your most esoteric and, truly, most delightful car reviews ever. I read Fleming's Bond books over and over and over, especially the original audiobook versions now available on UA-cam. They are a remarkable fall asleep night on night to James playing Chemin de Fer (Casino Royale) or Bridge (Moonraker). Thank you so very much for visualizing the Locomotive. Again, pure delight.
Thank you Mr. Hunter, for allowing your car to be shared with us! What an achievement to create this wonderful motorcar.
Mr. Hunter saying you either have enough money to play someone to do it or "learn to do it yourself" as you two discussed that magnificent dashboard was a triumph of humility and an exemplar of fine character if ever I heard one. This is my favorite episode. Ever.
What an interesting chap. The fact that there are people crafting things like this in sheds and garages across England is a great reason to love this country!
I love every single thing about it, except for one thing. I don't own it, and probably never will. One can dream, can't one?
One can indeed… 😛
Part of the issue of the perception of Bond driving a DB5 is due, in part, to the order the books were filmed. A car didn’t feature in Dr No or From Russia With Love, however an Aston Martin DB3 did feature in the 3rd book filmed “Goldfinger” which the movie updated the car to a DB5, full of gadgets. This was the movie adaption that really set the mould for future movie adaptions, being the seventh written novel. Had the original movie series started with Casino Royal, it would have been a Bentley.
@@davidgifford8112That’s incorrect . A DB3 is a real car as is the DB2/4 MkIII aka the MkIII. Fleming incorrectly described the Aston Martin as a DBIII which doesn’t exist.
Have you thought of a Chrysler 300c? They're no Bentley, but they're beautifully appointed with enough power and excellent brakes. Road holding is good, too
@@michaelohman4980 How on earth is a Chrysler 300C related to James Bond’s Bentley??? 🤣🤣
That is properly werid Jack! I was listening to the audiobook of "Thunderball" last night and this morning where this very car was described in detail and struggling a little to picture it. Here you've got and driven the car! The description mentions matt battleship grey paint and a convertible body applied to a former saloon chassis. Fascinating video, what a treat!
Incredible!!!! Thanks for sharing!!
From Sydney, Australia. This is the BEST custom built car I have ever seen in my 68 years, simply stunning.
40 years ago I bought a 1957 Bentley S series Continental Coupe with the sloping back just like the R series version, it was in a dark/deep silver with rich blue leather, NSW rego DOM-777 I paid then $60,000 which then in '82 was a third the price of a new W126 560SEL Mercedes that the same dealer was selling. Some years later I sold it to buy a house and doubled what I paid for it. They are spectacular, the R and S types with the dramatically sloping back, are like no other car Georgina and I would go on night drives in it for no reason, it was like a drug, you would look at it and just want to drive it. I'm glad that I used mine as often that I did, we drove it all around the country on holidays too. Best thing is/was that the big 4.9 litre 6-cylinder engines are long lasting too and give no grief. Now in 2024 the R series slope back Bentley Continentals are a $500,000 car that is hoarded away and sadly just never seen on the road. NOTHING like this is made now, all the new supposed luxury cars are just plasticky globs with an array of computer screens about as interesting as a fridge or washing machine, no soul.
Wonderful memory and spot on synopsis. Thanks.
What are you talking about? My 1957 Turquoise Blue, Coldspot refrigerator is a classic work of art! How dare you say she has no soul?
Delightfully entertaining episode!
Good that your passenger didn't eject you...
Thank you.
Wow! Tony Hunter deserves a tremendous amount of credit for bringing this car into real life!
Notes for those interested: In the very first book, "Casino Royale" (1953) Bond's car is a 1930 Blower Bentley. The only movie that comes close to showing this is the spoof, "Casino Royale" (1967), where David Niven drives a 1923 Bentley 3 Litre with a fake blower put on the front to make it more Bond accurate. In "From Russia With Love" , he drove a 1935 Bentley 3.5 Litre Drophead Coupe Park Ward, and in "Never Say Never Again" a 1937 Bentley 4 1/2 Litre Gurney Nutting 3-Position-Drophead Coupe makes an appearance.
Good chronology of the cinematic Bentley glimpses, but the 4 1/2 liter didn't appear 'til 1927, and the 50 supercharged versions of that model 'til 1929.
@@oogieobanyon
Yes! ... I have corrected my mistake.
The 1967 Casino Royale car really had me searching for accurate information ( there is much inaccurate info out there) ... the fake blower in the front really had me stumped as they came into being later.
Absolutely loved this 👌🏻
My recollection is that the car in the book "Casino Royal" was a 4 1/2 ltr Bentley supercharged by Amherst Villiars.
If I remember correctly, in the 1985 film "A View to a Kill", James Bond drove a 1982 Vauxhall Nova 1.2L, but I could be wrong about that obvs
😅😅😅
I would say this IS your best video upload ever. Delighted that you chose to introduce and feature the very modest owner / designer who clearly has so much intimate knowledge, passion and skill! A beautiful creation!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks 🙏
A very likeable chap with a sense of humour, and passion for his subject
Ah man, as someone who would love to do car design of any type, it's so fascinating hearing stuff like this from a car designer, and also connecting my love of Bond. Absolutely love when these automotive "what ifs" get actually answered with an actual car.
Incredible car. I can tell by the smile on Jack’s face throughout the video that this was one of the best cars he has experienced on this channel 😊
What a wonderful and worthwhile thing for a man to do in his life: bring something fabulous that exists only in fiction into reality. The car is simply spectacular. Thanks so much to Tony for creating the car and letting us share in its beauty. Many thanks to you for staying on task and making and sharing this video and leaving me spellbound.
@Number27 Jack you just made one of my all time favourite videos! As a fellow petrolhead and huge Bond fan since I was a child, this car is probably one of the most beautiful cars I’ve ever seen! It truly captures all of the elements of Fleming as well as Bond!
Thank you so much for sharing this incredible car with all of us! Cheers!
"Walzing with a big girl" there's a sentence I must introduce to my daily vocabulary!
Possibly not preceded by 'I like ...' in the company of someone that might fulfill that desire. Unless she's also got the twinkle, and knows she's going to be In Charge. ;-)
If you like getting ostracized or even fired....
“Aware of the mass” 😂
If you have ever tried to hustle a big 1980s motorcycle down a lovely winding road, you would understand the experience. A more politicly correct simile than the one chosen. It still boils down to skill and equipment can only take you so far. You can't break the Newton's laws of motion. Mass requires force applied to it to change direction and that force is needed is proportional to the mass.
@@aitchr8770 🥱
What an incredibly beautiful car, everything is correct, the styling, the interior, the color and appearance. Walter Owen Bentley personally would certainly have approved the production of a car like this in the earlier days. 💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻💯👍🏻
What a wonderful thing. A real piece of automotive sculpture.
It is sad that GT cars in general have been neglected in favor of cars with useless levels and acceleration and top speed. I live in the US where it is entirely possible to drive 1000 miles and more per day. In my foolish youth, I had very high-performance American cars, but turning high mileages on trips was literally exhausting. This looks like a car that I could travel that kind of distance. I am also delighted that this gentleman stuck with the beautiful in-line six. Thank you so much for this video! Best wishes from Texas.
but you can never legally drive fast in the US, can you? or do people just floor it on those emply roads in the endless midwest anyway, hoping they won't run into a speed camera or police patrol
@@Blackadder75 1) there are many parts of the US where the speed limit is 85 mph (137 mph). At least in my opinion, that's plenty fast for the average driver and the average car. Of course, copying one of Rowan Atkinson's TV series, you might think of higher speeds. I doubt in the UK that that would happen. I live in Texas, slightly larger than France. And no, the midwest is far from endless; one would think that more in the American West. 2) As far as I'm aware, there are no "speed camera" installations on our public highways, and very few in cities across our nation. Frankly, here in Texas they'd get shot out very quickly; remember, gun ownership for most of the US is completely legal. Personally, I like the idea of speed cameras but I'm in a minority here. So tell me, Rowan Atkinson fan, what do you consider a reasonable high speed for grand touring, say, 12 hours at a stretch as can be easily done here? Again, best wishes from Texas.
Correction. With the exception of the freakish and incredibly illegal setup of the Cannonball cross country runs, it is entirely for an average citizen to drive 1000 miles and more per day. That would be 10 hours at an average of 100 mph. Apart from driver fatigue, there is the slight problem of finding enough open road and sufficiently few cops.
@@mctavish199 In my career as a health care administrator I drove 1000-mile days routinely. Yes, they were 16-hour days in comfortable company cars, often on interstates. Do the math.
As a child living in far Northern California my dad would drive the whole family in our 1961 Plymouth station wagon on our annual vacation from Redding to Kalispell, MT in 16-18 hours. The distance was ~ 1000 miles. A month later we made the return trip. There were no freeways back then and the car had a 170 c.i. slant 6 cylinder engine.
this is so awesome, I read the books and imagine a bit older model than this.. like the 4,5litre showed.. this is so sleek.. Im in awe
I’ve read each of Fleming’s Bond novels 18 times and always tried to picture this car. Thank you.
What a wonderful piece of art, forgive me for calling it that but as it is a 'special' then I think 'art' is a worthy description. I used to be involved with the custom car scene and we would redesign parts of a car but this is a whole other level. Well done to Tony for building the car and his attention to detail is second to none in my opinion. Thank you Jack for sharing this car with us viewers and thank you to Tony for allowing you to drive it, a joy to watch! 👍👍
Mr. Hunter is a modern unsung hero who by conjuring up, with a lot of blood, sweat and tears no doubt, a childhood dream that also brought much joy to many other people. Thanks very much Jack for the effort you made in producing this video.
Jack. Please thank Tony. I am an American fan of James Bond. I happen to have a couple of 1st Printings Bond books. Tony's Continental MKII is exquisite. It seems that my garage is missing something. Very nice as always Jack.
Excellent! As a big fan of the James Bond books, the character, and his tastes, this project is particularly impressive. Really appreciate the consideration and hard work made by Mr. Hunter. Thanks for sharing.
I’m watching this dreaming about this beautiful car with me at the wheel, driving along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia.
Glorious, absolutely Glorious.
Amazing. Initially I thought it was ugly (as Fleming describes) but the more you look at it, the more you love it. It's incredibly detailed. And knowing it's all aluminium too makes it even more desirable.
Well done for getting this up on UA-cam, Jack.
This is Fantastic! Great video and story. I worked on a Bentley Continental that was purchased new by Ian Fleming for his friend Ivar Bryce who was the inspiration for Felix Leiter. The car I worked was not a convertible. It came to me with a seized engine after decades of neglected storage. My job was to get it running and driving while disturbing it as little as possible. I believe that car is currently for sale at Gull Wing Motors in New York.
His Bentley was actually shown in From Russia With Love briefly and mentioned in Goldfinger before he gets the DB5 from Q 😊
Yes it was a 1938 Bentley 4 1/2 litre Drophead Coupe Park Ward
For those who are not Bond nutters... In Goldfinger Bond asks where his Bentley is when the DB5 is introduced (wonderful scene)! Should have been in his garage... The opening of FRWL has him on the Bentley car phone bringing the liason with Sylvia Trench to an end (The girl he met in the casino in Dr No when he utters those infamous words, 'Bond, James Bond').
Bloody hell. It's gorgeous. I want one!
Me too ❤.
They are in back order 🙈
What a fantastic project. Love the Bond books and the time they are set and this just brings it to life. Wonderful. Well done Sir 👍
Love how you have gone from a common garden 00s Celica to a bespoke classic in a matter of days, great channel.
Magnificent!
I kept smiling throughout the whole video!
I've tried to imagine what the car would be like from Flemming's description in the books. Tony pretty well nailed it. Well done old cahp, splendid work.
Speechless!! Those late 1950s early 1960s...a time when race car, road car, sports car were not too distant or different from one another. What a fantastic tribute!!
but, it's more like a truck.
It is a Bond car and maybe the best one of all. It should have been a movie car and maybe it could still be. I think it would be really cool to re-imagine the old Bond books on film. More close to the original intent Ian Fleming wrote about. Thanks Tony for sharing you wonderful car. Cheers.
That dashboard is a work of art, simply beautiful.
This was at Kopp Hill Climb last year, it really is as beautiful in real life, and close up the detail and workmanship is top notch.
What a perfect day and perfect location to pilot this stellar car about.
Just wow, what a beautiful and very well crafted machine.
Yeah.. it’s really an incredible achievement!!
What a lovely car and what a lovely story too. As owner of both an R type and an SI Continetal (Flying Spur) I think Tony Hunter had enabled every Bentley owner to feel proud just to be associated with his really attractively bodied version, and I thought his explanation of the 'Hindsight' switch crowned a joyously imaginitive creation. Well done and thank you!
A very special car with a great story to tell.
Proper switches. What a simple delight. Not a touch screen to be seen. Thank goodness!
It really does sound like a locomotive- brilliant find and thanks again for sharing
Any self-propelled vehicle. 😀
Jack, this is close to your best ever video 😃
Wow.. 🤩 glad you enjoyed it !! 🙏
Simply the best...
For me the rear three-quarter view works wonderfully, it gives the impression of a rapidly moving automobile as drawn by a 50's illustrator for a book. The world needs more people like Tony Hunter.
Exactly what I was aiming for…well spotted…I pushed the rear wing intersection forward a bit for exactly that reason… (and thank you, although my wife would argue one like me is quite enough!)
I began reading the Bond books in 1962, when I was recuperating from a gunshot wound I received 2 days after my 21st birthday. I loved everything about the books, but I don’t remember anything about this car. In any case, this car is beyond gorgeous.
Magnificent. Fleming would be pleased.
That was a terrific episode. What a fantastic thing to do! (Btw, I thought your editing was superb, too!)
Wow, thank you!🙏
You've outdone yourself Tony and have officially "one upped" the competion. As a life long Bond fanatic (of the books as well as the movies) this is beyond excellent. "I never joke about my work, Bond" It sounds like an airplane when it rides by! Cheers!
Incredible videography, amazing backstory, and fantastic car. Bravo, keep more of these coming 👏
Thank you! Will do!
I saw that car in the metal, some time ago. I recognised it almost immediately, from my memory of reading Thunderball as a teenager. I'd say that it is a pretty faithful recreation of that car.
If you don’t think your electronic devices are listening to you, you’re wrong. I am re-reading the books and just finished Thunderball a week ago. Now this pops up in my feed today. Thank you for building this car. It’s amazingly close to what I imagined while reading the books.
That is a super cool car. And I love the battleship grey colour.
A wonderful video Jack. A car built with passion and a sense of humour. It just doesn't get any better than this. I doff my hat to you Mr Hunter.
I remember reading On Her Majesty's Secret Service in about 1973 aged about 11. The description of the car was largely lost on me at the time except for the replacement of the Bentley mascot.
Fantastic car - literally
Wow Jack!!! This IS my new favorite all time car!!! From the book to the dreamer and builder!!! Just Fantastic!!!!
Oh god Jack, that is a um... beautiful car. Thank you Tony, you have exceptional taste and skill and a very generous man to show the car and allow Jack to drive it.
I've never seen a right hand shift on a right hand drive. Beautiful!
It was a standard feature of the marque at the time.
Ford GT(40) from 1965.
That was common on US cars before we switched from RHD to LHD. My dad had a 1912 Locomobile with the 4-speed shifter (virtually unknown at the time when almost all cars were 3 speeds) mounted outside the bodywork on the right hand side.
@@solracer66 Thank for the info. I'm learning a lot here.
Wolseley 6.90 series 3 of about 1959 had a right side gear change. A wee bit stressful for a learner driver !!
Just stunning Jack, but I'm somewhat disappointed that it doesn't have the passenger ejector seat so that you could have exited Tony and given it a proper thrashing. Thanks to Tony for allowing us to experience this work of art.
🤣🤣🤣
Awesome. At least the oil slick is something my car can also do!
Love it, love it, love it, wow, thank you, Mr Hunter, for letting us see your beautiful car.
American watching from the State of Rhode Island in the U.S.-never owned a foreign car-let alone a British vintage example-not necessarily-"against"-them-probably just so used to the American car psychology-but of course can appreciate the vintage Bond stuff-not to mention car craftsmanship-& this thing is an absolute marvel of exquisite craftsmanship-amazing-thanks for the share-Much peace all!
That instrument cluster is gorgeous work. The typeface of the switch labels is
Maybe the grin on my face has relaxed when I wake up tomorrow. Great car. Great video.
I too grew up with the Fleming novels. Luckily, it was the guns I fixated on rather than the cars, so I haven't had to spend a fortune to play at being Bond.
This car is amazing, and I think he absolutely nailed in every way.
Well that was simply,......Amazing!!! I remember as a youngster also reading about the adventures and missions of James Bond - 007 and the description of his Bentley the "Locomotive"! Seeing it now as an actual driving car is just Fantastic!! I hope that whenever Tony fits the supercharger to that lovely straight six, he might bring it around again just for the pleasure of hearing that unmistakable whine as the supercharger spits compressed air into that engine while at speed!!! A very large Thank-you to Tony for bringing this Icon of a car down so that you could feature it in an episode. If there was ever a follow up episode to a car, this one would be the one to do it with!!! Cheers - Dave
What a fantastic thing to do and also a great video.
This definitely deserves a cameo in one of the future movies and should even be made into a model as that’s the closest we can get to owning it.
I am absolutely blown away. This car is perfect.
Brilliant ! Somebody actually made the "Selfish car" from Ian Fleming's books
Great stuff! I too discovered the Bond books at about 8 years old, and remember lying on the floor behind the sofa, very warm, not understanding many of the undercurrents but, being a car nut (still the same 60 years on) enjoying the journey. The Bentley is the one that I visualised the most, and this recreation (or creation) is just how it looked in my imagination, as I knew the 'R' Type Continental from magazine pictures.
How awesome is that car Jack!.....how are you getting all of these amazing cars on the channel! Well done buddy 👏
Thank dude.. was a lot of work to get this one!
@Number27 I bet buddy!
Thank you Mr Hunter and Jack,
I live in the US and don't get much classic Bentley exposure, I was delighted to see the 4.9 liter in line 6 under the hood. Many a truck user here in the US would recognize this set up as the English version of the great ford truck engine. I had an in line 6 with a 5 speed manual transmission in my favorite F 150! I have always wondered what the engine would be like in a roadster. Great torque, very powerful, super reliable, and not bad on gas consumption. Just a dream come true for me, thanks again
My gratitude to Mr. Hunter for allowing his build to be showcased, and to Jack for featuring it here. The history lessons have been very fascinating, and I've learned much about older Bentleys in the process as well.
What a stunning car Tony has created. So great to see these being driven rather than shown too. Please can we have a video update once the super charger is fitted 🤤
I am gobsmacked by this beautiful machine! Vintage 1953-54 Bentley Continental "the Locomotive" open sports roadster in battleship grey! An extremely attractive and unique design! Very Bond, very Ian Fleming, from the novels, not the movies.
I would love to see Sean Connery circa 1960 as 007 with this car, and an older Connery as Bond in retirement with grey moustache and beard, with this car circa 1990.
A phenomenal classic vintage Bentley, a real work of art and an original one-off showcar that looks absolutely factory custom built by Bentley as a Mark II model. I must share this! Thank you so much!
That is a cool car! The Aston Martin fits into the movie franchise but this Bentley is amazing.
Excellent Jack
Thank you buddy!! Glad you enjoyed it
This Bentley looks like a swiss Alvis convertible
Bravo well spotted it’s has elements that are very reminiscent of Alvis.
Amazing video! I first read the Bond books back in the mid 60s as a 10-11 year old and I have always wondered what his Bentley would have looked and driven like. Now after all these years I know. Thanks Tony for a fabulous car. Thanks Jack for a truly historic video for Number 27.
This is hands down the coolest car to feature on this channel- absolutely stunning. Great film as per!
Wow, thanks!🙏
By far the best episode ever...I am just trying to absorb what I just watched. Thank you Jack, you just turned an average day into a great one by just showing this beautiful car...
Huge, huge surprise from this channel!
Well worth it to watch an amazing car!
Congratulations and thank you very much to the owner to allow us to see it a bit.
TY Jack 🙏🙏, fascinating car & great story from the owner!
What a beautiful car!
What a remarkable car, and an excellent example of man's passion for automobiles. I'm typically much more interested in modern cars and tech, but Tony's reimagining of this Bond Bentley is wonderful!
That format was great as well having the camera on you both with interesting chat
Tony comes across as a cool eccentric chap with an ace sense of humour 👍👍
Great to see such dedication from a professional car designer, taking on such a project, and delivering such an outstanding example of vehicle 'realisation' (of a written concept), and bringing it to life. Thanks Tony Hunter!
The two of you weave a fantastic story. Superb!!
Wonderful..quintessentially British and totally unique...fabulous .I'm both shaken and stirred..❤
What an amazing project! Not only as a very fitting tribute to the Bond legacy, but also as an example of personal dreams being realized with hard work and diligence.
A gorgeous car and a very gracious gentleman owner. Thank you for sharing it with us.
What an amazing and beautiful car. Congratulations, Jack, for being persistent and getting it featured on the channel.
What an incredible car, interview, video, and drive! Thanks for making this.
What a lovely episode, of which I enjoyed very much! A big shout out to Mr. Hunter for allowing us the audience, to enjoy his creation and the wonderful back story.
1:30 It also mentions in Moonraker, when he's beaten Drax at Blades, who says to him "Spend it quickly, Mr Bond" that he contacts Rolls-Bentley the next day to order a new car. It's years since I read the book so I can't remember the exact details but I think that it's referring back to the original description of the locomotive in Casino Royale. I think that at the end of Moonraker he takes delivery of his new Bentley, but memory might be at fault here.
That was a great video. What a lovingly crafted vehicle. I also read the James Bond books as a child, but I had forgotten that Ian Fleming included so many specifics of Bond's cars.
The build quality of this project is insane!
I would stand beside this and never guess this wasn't a factory Bentley.
I wouldn't hesitate to compare this to the Aston Martin DB4 Jet from Bertone in quality and execution. What this gentleman built here is amazing and astonishing and only possible due to his extensive knowledge, care and his qualifications. This is the perfect alignment of so many factors that caused this car to become reality.
Fantastic one-off built car! So much love in it, my biggest respect to the builder, and thanks for sharing this with us! 😊 🙏
I have often thought that Bond’s Bentley was a fictional form of an unmade Bentley. Fleming was a friend of Amhurst Villiers (see Villiers’ portrait of Fleming in the National Portrait Museum) . I wondered if the car in the books was based on a Villiers’ dream of adding a supercharger to the pre-war Bentley models after Royce’s took them over. I usually imagined it as a supercharged low slung 3 1/2 model. This model comes very close, running boards would have made it perfect. A delightful project I remain jealous of the owner.
This is the first but not the only Bentley owned by James Bond. 4.5 L 1930 Convertible coupe, A 1935 Bentley 3½ Litre Drophead Coupe Park Ward with car-phone can seen in the beginning of the movie From Russia With Love (1963). In the movie Never Say never Again (1983), Bond drives a 1937 Bentley 4¼ Litre Gurney Nutting 3-Position-Drophead Coupé. In the novel Thunderball he acquires a wreck of a Bentley Mark II Continental, restores it and customises it, and calles it "The Locomotive". Bond purchases a Bentley Mulsanne Turbo (British racing green with magnolia interior). Jamesbondlifestyle has an article about it.
That was wonderful. What a story and what a labour of love. Thanks Tony for creating something so special.
It's one of your most esoteric and, truly, most delightful car reviews ever. I read Fleming's Bond books over and over and over, especially the original audiobook versions now available on UA-cam. They are a remarkable fall asleep night on night to James playing Chemin de Fer (Casino Royale) or Bridge (Moonraker). Thank you so very much for visualizing the Locomotive. Again, pure delight.