When one thinks of author Ian Fleming, the first and the foremost thing that pops to mind is James Bond (and his cars) because Fleming was the real brain behind all the fictional brawn that has gone to spawn a money-making franchise unlike another.

But what many do not know about Fleming was that he also penned a children’s book, published posthumously, titled Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car, about a car that could fly, float, and get into great adventures.

The book was later adapted into a movie, and the car came to life, built specifically for the movie, considering no such car existed at the time. It was a Frankenstein of a car, with parts taken from here, there, and everywhere but became so iconic, everyone knows of it and about it. The most magical thing about the car, in real life, is that the car still exists, still runs, and has spawned a whole culture of replica cars around it.

So here’s the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car, and why this vintage vehicle is an absolute and unparalleled gem for automobile aficionados, as well as movie buffs…

The Origins Of the Phrase

Count Louis Zborowski With Chitty Chitty Bang Bang 1 At Brooklands Racing Circuit In Early '20s
Via myAutoWorld

While the car, or rather the magic of the car was all Ian Fleming, and later the scriptwriters, one of which was the illustrious Roald Dahl; the car was inspired from Chitty Bang Bang. This is the nickname given to not one but a whole set of English racing cars that came aero-engine powered, built, and raced by Count Louis Zborowski and engineer Clive Gallop in the 1920s.

The phrase Chitty Bang Bang was used because of the overly loud engines of the car, so much so they were banned from entering the Canterbury city walls, unsurprising considering they came powered by engines sourced from airplanes. The idling of the engine was very loud indeed.

Of course, the phrase has a very salacious meaning as well, because, during WWI, soldiers needed a chit, as in written permission to go out of the barracks and visit the brothels, and do the Bang Bang, to crudely say.

Some even say that the Chitty bit came from aeronautical engineer Letitia Chitty. Needless to say, Ian Fleming saw Zborowski race when he was a schoolboy and the lead in his books, Caractacus Potts was inspired by Zborowski’s racing pursuits. He even wove Zborowski as a major character in the third book, leading to his crash and death, as fiction followed real-life considering Zborwoski died at 29, racing for and in a Mercedes-Benz car.

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The Many Movie Car Builds

Some Six Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Cars Were Made For The Movie, Although There Was Only One That Actually Worked And Was Driven In The Movie By Dick Van Dyke, The Man Who Plays Caractacus Potts
Via ClassicCars

Some six Chitty Chitty Bang Bang cars were made for the movie, although there was only one that actually worked and was driven in the movie by Dick Van Dyke, the man who plays Caractacus Potts.

Dyke later called the car difficult to drive and likened it to trying to turn a battleship. It was designed by the movie’s production designer, Ken Adam with inputs from cartoonist and sculptor Frederick Rowland Emmett, and finally built by Alan Mann Racing in Hertfordshire in 1967.

The bonnet gleams considering it was made of polished aluminum while there is the prolific use of red and white cedarwood for the car, and all the brass fittings, including the lamps come from earlier Edwardian cars. A 3.0-liter Ford V6 powered the car, and it carried a dashboard plate from a British WWI fighter plane as well.

The Interior OF Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Movie Car's Interior
Via TheIrishSun

The car was then genuinely registered in the UK as Gen 11, which in Fleming’s mind read gen ii, as in genie, a magical being.

Five more cars were built. One of them was a smaller road-savvier version and differed in the grille supports as well as steering wheel height. Today, this car is at the Dezer Car Museum in Orlando, Florida. Another transforming car was made, but it is not allowed to be on the road. A third is on display at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu in the UK. A hovercar was also made that basically sat on the boat but was destroyed after filming. A final “flying car” was also made, replete with wings, and finally landed with Florida resident Ralph Tyler Spencer and was on display at the Mulch-Production facility in 2018.

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Where Is The Road Worthy Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Movie Cars At An Exhibition Outside The Palace House
Via TheIndependent

The only roadworthy car, the one driven by dick Van Dyke in the movie was finally put for auction. The publicity and fanfare it generated made everyone assume that it would sell for an astronomical amount, well over $1 million, at least.

The Gen 11 was privately owned by Pierre Picton, who stunt-drove the car in the movie, and used it in several charity runs and parades. It finally sold for $805,000 to New Zealand film director Sir Peter Jackson, who plans to use it to further raise funds for charity with it and has registered it in New Zealand as Gen 1L, because Gen 11 was taken.

Hopefully, the magic will continue…

Sources: BBC, Jacksonville.com

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