Vehicle Description
To be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at Auctions America's
Auburn Fall event, August 31-3, 2017.
Chassis No.
BILL OF SALE
Estimate:
$250,000 - $350,000 US
When the phrase "Bond Car" is used, it typically brings to mind a
gleaming silver Aston Martin DB5 bristling with gadgets, machine
guns, and mysterious red buttons that may or may not eject your
passenger. To those of a different generation, it might suggest a
white Lotus Esprit that Q Branch had converted into a submarine, or
perhaps a silver BMW Z8 convertible. For some, though, there is no
more noteworthy "Bond Car" than this, the 1974 AMC Hornet X
"Astro-Spiral" stunt car from The Man with the Golden Gun
(1974).
The famous stunt saw James Bond, played by Sir Roger Moore, drive
the Hornet over the remains of a collapsed bridge, corkscrewing
over a river to continue his pursuit of the villains. In today's
CGI world this seems a minor undertaking; in 1974 it was
awe-inspiring. The corkscrew stunt itself was conceived by famed
racing and stunt driver Jay Milligan and was performed by Mr.
Milligan publicly as early as 1972. Following his successful
execution of the trick at Houston's Astrodome, Milligan contacted
the producers of the Bond series and offered it to them for the
next installment of the franchise. The producers secured the right
to use the trick and ultimately filed a patent on it to ensure that
no one else could perform it on film.
Performing the trick in a controlled setting is one thing; to
safely execute the stunt on location in Thailand under the
limitations of a movie set is quite another. To produce a
film-worthy stunt while ensuring the safety of the driver and film
crew, extensive computer modeling was in order. At the time the
science of automotive computer modeling was still in its infancy
and not yet able to produce useful results for the film. It took
the groundbreaking work of Calspan Corporation and engineer Raymond
R. McHenry to create the system that ultimately enabled the trick
to be successful for the film. Following extensive research,
engineering, and programming, the trick was exhaustively planned
before the first ramp was built. So successful was this planning
that the car, bravely piloted by stunt driver Loren "Bumps"
Willard, landed exactly where the simulation predicted after
hitting the ramp at the suggested speed of 40 mph. Reportedly the
trick only required one take, an amazing testament to both the
skill of the programmers and that of "Bumps" Willard.
Due to the pioneering systems created by Calspan and Mr. McHenry,
the Hornet survived the jump without incident. In a further
indication of the skill of the programmers, the basic technology
they created for the stunt still influences computer simulations
including today's most popular racing video games.
Offered from the Jay Milligan collection, This 1974 AMC Hornet
Hatchback is the actual stunt car used in The Man with the Golden
Gun. The car is operable and remains in as-jumped condition, having
suffered no damage during the stunt's one-take execution. The
engine and chassis numbers of this car match those on the shipping
invoice created when the car was sent from the filming location in
Thailand back to Jay Milligan's JM Productions in New York.
The sale represents a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a truly
significant piece of automotive, technological and film history.
