Celebrate 60 years of 007 with Bond in Motion at the Petersen
After wowing attendees for more than two years, the fabulously curated Hollywood Dream Machines exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum was packed up to make room for yet another display of silver screen legends. Bond in Motion, which opens September 25, lets fans of the most famous British special agent get up close and personal with more than two dozen vehicles used by Bond, or his ill-fated antagonists, over the course of 25 films.
Included in the display are cars, motorcycles, boats, planes, a snowmobile, a helicopter, and even submarines. The majority of the vehicles are the real thing, driven by Bond actors or stunt drivers, although you’ll also find a couple of scale model aircraft that saw screen time as well.
Perhaps the most iconic Bond car is the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that’s been a Bond favorite since nearly the beginning. The example on display at the Petersen isn’t the one from Goldfinger, but it was used on film since 1995’s Goldeneye, with on-screen visits in five movies, including 2021’s No Time to Die, making it the Bond car with the most film credits to its name. Of course, the exhibit features plenty of other Aston Martins, including some gadget-filled examples and one Aston Martin DBS V12 that was crashed in Casino Royale.
Perhaps the most notable stunt vehicles used in Bond movies are the 1977 Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me known as “Wet Nellie” which transforms into a submarine, and the 1974 AMC Hornet X from The Man with the Golden Gun that completes a corkscrew jump. The latter is displayed along with a monitor that plays a looping clip of its famous leap.
The Bond in Motion gallery is so stuffed full of 007’s movie vehicles that this Hiller UH-12C used by Spectre henchmen in From Russia With Love was placed outside the entrance to the museum. It greets attendees as they approach.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area in the coming months, we can’t recommend the Petersen Automotive Museum enough; this preview only touches on the many vehicles on display and the behind-the-scenes tidbits disclosed in the exhibit’s many placards. Get your tickets on the museum’s website and prepare to be amazed by some of the greatest custom cars and boats this side of Q’s lab.
