How would you go about authenticating the identifcation of a hero car from Ian Fleming's "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" movie (1968)?
Three weeks ago, Aaron Richardson posted an article on Aol Autos titled, “Flying Car For Sale: Buy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. No Kidding!”
This referred to an eBay auction “alleging” (his word) “to be the original hero car from Ian Fleming’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” motion picture.
That movie was produced by Albert R Broccoli and released in 1968 — after Sean Connery had made his last uninterrupted appearance as James Bond for Eon Productions and before On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was released, starring George Lazenby.
Now, returning to Mr Richardson and eBay, via Aol Autos, the auction link that he was kind enough to provide shows an Item number 350455879688 for “1967 Other Makes Ford GEN 11: Original Hero ‘GEN 11′ Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Car. Just 1 bid, for one million dollars, Reserve not met, ended April 25. It was then re-listed, again apparently attracting a single US $1,000,000 bid, no deal.
That one closed May 5.
And it’s back today, with not-quite 2 days left for bidding (zero so far).
As I’ve followed this, the thing that’s struck me, too, is this from Aaron Richardson’s final paragraph:
The seller provides a convincing back story on the car, but there’s no official documentation shown or offered. This is no-doubt a well-built car, and could very well be the original from the movie, but at a starting bid of $1,000,000, we’d need a lot of confirmation before pulling the trigger.
Indeed. During the course of our “Bond Watches, James Bond Watches” exhibit run at the National Watch & Clock Museum, we received our share of pitches from people claming to own watches that had acutally appered in James Bond films. Asking no more than “acknowledgment,” they’d offer to let us display it with the others, including Ian Fleming’s personal James Bond watch from the early 1960s.
Of course, you know, if anyone who sees it happens to ask if the watch might be available for purchase….
You’ve to to be careful. The Museum staff and I were always mindful that such placement could very much put us in the position of implied authenticators of watches otherwise unconfirmed to have been in any way associated with the fictional 007 character. Moreover, as readers of this James Bond Watches Blog will recall, unfortunate instances can too easily be found of perhaps otherwise legitimate exhibits that are largely called into question (if not wholely compromised) by the appearance of even secondary pieces which are not exactly what they claim to be.
I’m not particularly following this claimed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang auction, other than as it relates to James Bond watches. To that end, I note with great interest that records do not appear to exist for whatever the original automobile was that appeared in a 1968 film with which legendary James Bond movie producer Albert R Broccoli was associated.
Not a good sign that we’ll ever have definitive identifications of key watches worn by Sean Connery as James Bond in the 1960s Eon Productions 007 films.
Image courtesy eBay
Comments