Thunderball

Vehicles

• 

  Aston Martin DB5

  Car1963

  Return of the Goldfinger car, now with rear-facing water cannons

  After the rocket flight from the roof of the Château d'Anet Bond gets into the DB5 parked outside the gate and drives off Bouvar's men with two new rear-firing water cannons – on set two fire hoses mounted under the car. They are the same two Goldfinger cars, effects car DP/216/1 and road car DB5/1486/R, in which Bond then drives, still dusty, to the Shrublands health farm and which witness Fiona Volpe's rocket attack on Count Lippe. The effects car was stolen in Florida in 1997 and is missing; the road car fetched £2.6 million at RM in London in 2010.

  Driven by

  James Bond

  Specs

  4.0 L DOHC straight-six, 282 bhp, 145 mph

  Sources: 007.com: Aston Martin DB5 · IMCDb: 1963 Aston Martin DB5 Pre-production [DP216/1] in Thunderball · astonmartins.com: DB5 for 007 James Bond (Goldfinger/Thunderball) · Wikipedia (en): Aston Martin DB5 · Wikipedia (en): Thunderball (film)

• Rodriquez Cantieri Navali PT 20 „Flying Fish“ als Disco Volante

  Boat

  Largo's yacht that splits into a fast hydrofoil and a detachable stern section; converted in Miami

  At its core Largo's yacht is the hydrofoil ferry Flying Fish, a Rodriquez PT 20 from Messina that the production bought in Puerto Rico and joined in Miami to a 15-metre catamaran "cocoon" serving as the stern, held by a single slip bolt. In the finale Largo jettisons the cocoon with its crew and flees in the hydrofoil until Bond gets aboard and runs it onto a reef. The boat never sailed again after filming, served as a houseboat on Miami's MacArthur Causeway and sank there in the early 1980s. No free photo exists.

  Driven by

  Emilio Largo

  Specs

  Forward hull 20.75 m, 1,350 hp V12 diesel, about 37 knots (43 mph)

  Sources: Wikipedia (en): Thunderball (film) · Yachting Art: James Bond – Disco Volante, Emilio Largo's hydrofoil yacht · Bond Lifestyle: Emilio Largo's Disco Volante yacht instruments from Thunderball

• 

  BSA Lightning A65

  Other1965

  Fiona Volpe's motorcycle fitted with rocket launchers

  On the gold-painted, fully faired Lightning Fiona Volpe catches up with Count Lippe's car as it chases Bond's DB5 and destroys it with two rockets, then dumps the bike in a lake. The rocket launcher actually worked, but the explosion was triggered remotely by stunt coordinator Bob Simmons, who was also driving the car that gets hit. The BSA was ridden by British motorcycle champion Bill Ivy in a blonde wig on the roads around Silverstone; the BSA badge was covered. In September 1965 BSA showed the machine at the Brighton motorcycle show.

  Driven by

  Fiona Volpe

  Specs

  654 cc OHV parallel twin, 52 bhp, 112 mph

  Sources: Bond Lifestyle: BSA A65 Lightning · IMCDb: 1965 BSA Lightning [A65L] in Thunderball · Wikipedia (en): BSA Lightning

• 

  Avro Vulcan B.2

  Aircraft

  The hijacked NATO bomber carrying two atomic bombs

  SPECTRE agent Palazzi replaces NATO pilot Derval, kills the crew and ditches the bomber with its two atomic bombs off the Bahamas, where Largo's divers camouflage it. The RAF provided Vulcan XH506 for the flying shots, while XA913 of the Waddington Wing appears on the ground – both B.1 variants, although the film speaks of a B.2. For the underwater scenes a full-size replica was built off Nassau and blown up after filming; its remains are now a dive site. The photo shows XH558, the last airworthy Vulcan.

  Driven by

  Angelo Palazzi (as Major Derval)

  Specs

  Four Bristol Olympus 301 turbojets, 20,000 lbf each, 645 mph at 39,000 ft (B.2)

  Sources: IMPDb: Thunderball · The James Bond Dossier: The Avro Vulcan bomber from Thunderball · Wikipedia (de): Avro Vulcan · Wikipedia (en): Avro Vulcan

• 

  Ford Mustang Convertible

  Car1965

  Fiona Volpe drives Bond into Nassau at breakneck speed

  Fiona Volpe picks up the stranded Bond on the beach in her blue Mustang with a white top (registration 205) and drives him into Nassau at breakneck speed, Bond remarking drily that some women enjoy being driven like that. As in Goldfinger Ford supplied the car, this time one from the first full 1965 model year. The photo shows a production example in the matching colour scheme.

  Driven by

  Fiona Volpe

  Specs

  Straight-six from 2.8 L or 4.7 L V8 (up to 271 hp)

  Sources: Bond Lifestyle: Ford Mustang convertible · IMCDb: 1965 Ford Mustang in Thunderball · Wikipedia (en): Ford Mustang (first generation)

• 

  Bell Aerosystems Rocket Belt

  Other

  The real rocket pack with which Bond escapes from the château roof in the pre-title sequence

  Director Terence Young wanted real technology rather than invented gags, so Bond flew the Rocket Belt that Wendell Moore had been developing at Bell since 1953 and which made its first free flight under a US Army contract in 1961. It was flown on 19 February 1965 at the Château d'Anet by Bell pilot Bill Suitor, who insisted on a helmet; Connery appears only in close-ups against rear projection. With about 20 seconds of fuel the device was too risky for the military but became a screen icon; it reappears in Q's store in Die Another Day. The photo shows a display example.

  Driven by

  James Bond

  Specs

  Hydrogen-peroxide rocket, about 290 lbf thrust, 21 seconds of flight, 34 mph

  Sources: 007.com: Focus of the Week – Thunderball's jet pack · Wikipedia (en): Bell Rocket Belt · Wikipedia (en): Thunderball (film)

• 

  Lincoln Continental Convertible (1965)

  Car1965

  Bond's light blue hire car in the Bahamas, in which he pulls up at Largo's Palmyra estate

  After arriving in Nassau Bond drives a light blue Continental convertible with a white top, in which he accepts Largo's invitation to Palmyra and tours the island with Leiter. The four-door Continental with its rear-hinged doors was America's only four-door production convertible at the time; for 1965 it gained a flatter front and front disc brakes. Largo's own Lincoln in the film is a Lehmann-Peterson executive limousine. The photo shows a production example.

  Driven by

  James Bond

  Specs

  7.0 L V8 (430 cu in MEL), about 320 hp

  Sources: IMCDb: 1965 Lincoln Continental Four-Door Convertible [74A] in Thunderball · Wikipedia (en): Lincoln Continental · Wikipedia (en): Ford MEL engine

• 

  Jordan Klein SPECTRE-Unterwasserschlitten (Motorised Tow Sled)

  Other1965

  The tow sleds with twin spear guns that SPECTRE uses to camouflage the Vulcan and escort the bombs

  Underwater engineer Jordan Klein built 13 or 14 of these sleds to Ken Adam's designs together with John Stears, most of which were used in the film; they carry twin compressed-air spear guns and were usually towed or pushed by divers, only one being fully motorised. Largo's men use them to camouflage the sunken Vulcan and escort the bomb sled into the Thunderball Grotto. Two sleds survive: one belongs to the Ian Fleming Foundation, which bought and restored it in the early 1990s and shows it in "Bond in Motion"; the second, from Klein's own collection, was auctioned by Prop Store in 2014.

  Driven by

  Largo's frogmen

  Sources: Ian Fleming Foundation: SPECTRE Underwater Tow Sled · Bond Lifestyle: Operation Thunderball – S.P.E.C.T.R.E. tow sled · Wikipedia (en): Thunderball (film)