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Re: [RE: James Bond cars]

To: <Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com>, <alpines@autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [RE: James Bond cars]
From: Jan Eyerman <jan.eyerman@usa.net>
Date: Wed, 26 Jun 2002 16:59:28 -0400
While James Bond drove an Alpine in Jamaica, his personal car was, I believe,
a 1934 Bentley (might have been a year or two off).  By the way, when
W.O.Bentley was fired by Rolls Royce after they took over Bentley Motors, W.O.
tested the pre-production Minx for Billy Rootes-then went on to head Lagonda.
Although W.O. commented that the Minx was a "was a nice car as such cars go",
1185cc and 30 HP were obviously not quite up to his performance requirements! 


In the original "Dr No" book, James Bond actually drove a '53-54 "Classic"
Alpine, not the later model.  Also, the "LaSalle" hearse belonging to the
"three blind mice" in the movie is magically transformed into a Humber hearse
when it goes over the cliff! Obviously LaSalle hearses were too rare to crash
in England.

Jan Eyerman




Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com wrote:
----- Forwarded by Jay Laifman/Attorney/Legal/CF/CCI on 06/26/2002 01:34 
PM -----


"Jones, Terril" <Terril.Jones@latimes.com>
06/26/2002 01:34 PM

 
        To:     "Mark Burkley" <mark@ciansystems.com>, piperbill@tubbs.cc, 
Jay_Laifman@countrywide.com, series25@optonline.net
        cc: 
        Subject:        RE: James Bond cars


Messieurs Burkley, Tubbs, Laifman and Series25, 
    Thank you for your emails today regarding James Bond's first movie 
car, and I plead: busted. I should have known better, since I've seen 
every Bond film except "Casino Royale." The error did not come from Ford 
or Aston Martin, but from us. I can only say in response to this goof is 
that it occurred due to an unfortunate confluence of events, including the 
LATimes email system not delivering me the edited version of the story 
Monday night and yesterday's sudden news conference by Ford about Crown 
Victoria police cruisers that pulled me out of the office. I had in fact 
sent the following message to the story's editor after finally getting a 
copy of it, though by that time it was too late to change anything: 
    "The only question I would raise, and it's probably not worth pulling 
out of CCI, is re Aston Martin, *the exotic marque that actor Sean Connery 
drove at the outset of the long-running James Bond movie franchise*. He 
drove the DB5 in Goldfinger, but there were two Bond movies before that 
(Dr. No 1962 and From Russia With Love '63), and I don't know what he 
drove in those. Astons have been in 4 or 5 bond films, tho not always the 
featured car."
    So while my instinct was correct that it may be an issue, I was 
obviously way off base that it was "not worth" pulling out of the editing 
system into which it had been sent, so please accept my apologies. It also 
proves to me once again that there are always sharp-eyed readers who know 
more than I do about everything. 
    I also could have avoided the mistake if I could have found the press 
kit that BMW put out a couple of years ago regarding the then-new Z8 
roadster, featured as I'm sure you know in -- and I hope I've got the 
right movie here (I'd check before I would put it in print) -- "The World 
is Not Enough." The press kit listed every Bond car (as well as Bond girl, 
Bond song, co-star etc) from the movies and was a gold mine for any Bond 
fan. 
    Incidentally, I was told by a (British) spokesman for Aston Martin a 
couple of years ago that the DB5 featured in Goldfinger was actually a DB4 
made up to look like a DB5. I forget the reason; either the DB5 wasn't 
available yet, or it was because of the modifications they had to do to 
give the ejector seat, etc.
    Thanks again for your critiques; I welcome comments and criticisms 
anytime. :-)
    Best regards,
    Terril Y. Jones
    LA Times / Detroit
 
PS to Jay: Your photos are great, thanks for sharing them. And, you said 
there were *two* incorrect comments -- I guess I should ask: what was the 
other one? 
 
-----------
        Get your facts straight before putting your foot in your mouth! 
James Bond drove a black,1962 Series II Sunbeam Alpine in Dr. No, at the 
outset of the series of james Bond movies, correct this and restore your 
limited credibility.
 
Very nice article. However, not to nit-pick, I believe Mr Bond started in 
a Sunbeam as his first car in Dr No . The Sunbeams are quite the British
orphans and often overlooked. If you 
are inclined, an article about them would be nice, as they are a great 
marque with quite a history that is relatively unknown to anyone under 40.
Thanks.
Kind regards,
MD Burkley 
 
You've undoubtedly already heard from several, but a small correction to your
"Starring Rolls" story is in order. James Bond's first movie car was a Sunbeam
Alpine, in the movie "Dr. No". The Aston Martin came later. It's surprising
that Ford Motor Company wouldn't tell you that since it was a Ford engine that
powered the offshoo of the Alpine, the Sunbeam Tiger.
Anyway, nice story besides the small gaff.
Thanks!
Bill Tubbs
Carmichael, California
 
I was just reading your article in today's L.A. Times about the cars in 
the movies. There were two incorrect comments about James Bond's first car in
the movies. It was not an Aston Martin. It was a Sunbeam Alpine in the first
movie, Dr. No. I see that the source of your information was Cristina Bruzzi,
Marketing Manager for Ford and Aston Martin. I would assume that such a
prestigious institution as Aston Martin would not want to be embarrassed by
making any such incorrect comments to the public in their marketing. So,
perhaps you should consider forwarding this messag on to Ms. Bruzzi to prevent
any further incorrect statements. In case you have not seen many, I have
attached a picture of my Sunbeam 
and some of James Bond's, taken straight from Dr. No (so the quality is a
little fuzzy). Also, check out this great web site about Sunbeam Alpines:
http://www.sunbeamalpine.org
All the best. Keep up the great work.
Jay

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