Its in this
department that the serious 007 stands to incur his greatest expense. Unless you have something like 5,000 pounds
to throw around, you'll have to stick to talking about your car but somehow never actually producing it - because,
for instance, it needs very thorough repairs after running into a carpet of steel spikes dropped in front of it
by a Russian agent you were pursuing along a French road [CR 16].
A 1954 Continental
Bentley with the "R" type chassis, the big 6 engine and a 13:40 back-axle ratio [OHMSS 2]. Against the
advice of Rolls-Royce, you've had fitted an Arnott supercharger controlled by a magnetic clutch. Rolls said the
crankshaft bearings wouldn't take the strain and withdrew their guarantee. But you had her up 125 mph the other
day on that fast but dull stretch of the N.1 between Abbeville and Montreuil and, athough the rev counter hovered
dangerously over the red sector at 4500 rpm (4250 being the safe limit), all was well.
The body,
installed by Mulliner's coachbuilders at a cost of 3,000 pounds is a trim, rather square convertible affair, power-operated,
with only two, large armed seats in black leather [T 7]. The rest of the blunt end is all knife-edged, rather ugly,
boot. The long, grey nose is topped by a big hexagonal silver bolt instead of the winged "B". The paint
is rough, not gloss, battleship grey and the upholstery black morocco. She goes like a bird and a bomb and you
love her more than all the women at present in your life rolled, if that were feasible, together. Oh, and you have
twin two-inch exhausts which growl softly. (Less authentically but more feasibly, they ought to be two-and-a-half
inch.) You didn't like the soft flutter of the standard fitting.
You have been
known to drive an Aston Martin DB III, supposedly drawn from the Service's car pool [G 7]. It's battleship grey
in color, and standard, but for certain extras including:
- 1) Switches to alter the type and color of front and rear lights. You'd better avoid mentioning
these if you plan a night drive or if your companion is technically minded.
- 2) Reinforced steel bumpers, fore and aft, in case you need to ram (Few people know how to recognize
reinforced steel.) Any reasonably robust rear bumper will do to incapacitate a halted Triumph TR 3 driven by a
girl and thus effect an introduction [G 13].
- 3) A trick compartment for a long barrelled Colt .45 The Colt happens to be with the Armourer
of the Service for re-rifling.
- 4) A radio pick up tuned to receive an apparatus called the Homer. The latter is a midget transmitter
which, privily installed in an enemy's car, enables you to follow him without difficulty. Both pick-up and Homer
happen to be with Q branch for servicing.
It's no problem to modify your Bentley along these same lines.
The rest of
your vehicular equipment consists of car-chat, or automobilia, as under:
- 1) Talk lovingly and nostalgically of your first car, one of the last 4 cylinder, 4.5 liter
Bentleys with the supercharger by Amherst-Villiers, capable of touring at 90 with 30 mph in reserve [CR 5]. A convertible
coupe, which really did convert. R.A.C. rating, 25 h.p. (They stopped making them in 1930, so watch it.) Anyway,
she went to her grave after colliding with a fourteen hundred-weight roll of newsprint launched at her by a lunatic
ex-Nazi [M 20].
- 2) Most American cars bore you. "They lack personality and the patina of individual craftsmanship
that European cars have," and all the fun of driving has been taken out of them with the abolition of the
gear-change, with hydraulic-assisted steering and spongy suspension [DAF 9]. A friend of yours in the CIA swears
by the Studillac - Studebaker with Cadillac engine - and with a top speed of 127 mph its certainly a quick motor.
But "that sort of hot-rod job's alright for kids who can't afford a real car."
- 3) If your companion expresses admiration for a car you've hired - a dark grey, two-seater,
soft-top Thunderbird will do very well - just say shortly that its hired [TSWLM 10].
- 4) Having once dabbled on the fringe of the racing world, you admire Mercedes and recall some
of its famous drivers: Caracciola, Lang, Seaman, Brauschitz [M 18]. You remember how it completely dominated the
Grand Prix scene from 1934 to 1939, since you started taking an interest in such things at about the age of seven.
- 5) You have never ridden a motorcycle except once, in order to be able to kill a Russian agent
who was killing SHAPE dispatch-rider. The machine was a B.S.A. M20 [FYEO 1].
