# How James Bond Restores a Car **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875 "2016-09-28T03:05:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 3:05am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/1 "2016-09-28T03:05:40Z")
From Ian Flemming’s “Thunderball” "_Bond had the most selfish car in England. It was a Mark II Continental Bentley that some rich idiot had married to a telegraph pole on the Great West Road. Bond had bought the bits for £1500 and Rolls had straightened the bend in the chassis and fitted new clockwork—the Mark IV engine with 9.5 compression. Then Bond had gone to Mulliners with £3000, which was half his total capital, and they had sawn off the old cramped sports saloon body and had fitted a trim, rather square convertible two-seater affair, power-operated, with only two large armed bucket seats in black leather. The rest of the blunt end was all knife-edged, rather ugly, trunk. The car was painted in rough, not gloss, battleship gray and the upholstery was black morocco. She went like a bird and a bomb and Bond loved her more than all the women at present in his life rolled, if that were feasible, together."_ ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/2 "2016-09-28T03:09:32Z")
or not ![](https://www.mi6-hq.com/images/stills/fyeo_s_08_500.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![circuitsmith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/circuitsmith/32/40376_2.png) [@circuitsmith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/circuitsmith)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/3 "2016-09-28T13:36:00Z")
With James Bondo? ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/4 "2016-09-28T15:59:31Z")
_ **That story sounds just like me, much like James Bond** ,_ but with an old ordinary _Grand Prix_ instead that never married a utility pole and didn’t need much restoration and doesn’t have a convertible top and has glossy paint rather than dull… _… I guess_ it’s really just the Bond part… James Bond that sounds just like me (if you forget about the bird and the bomb and all the women and stuff). _ **CSA** _ ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2016, 4:26pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/5 "2016-09-28T16:26:49Z")
_**On a more serious note (sort of)…**_ This _James Bond_ story reminded me that years ago on Car Talk, Tom and Ray read some of the winning entries from **The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest** , an annual literature competition. They would read and _would crack up laughing so hard_ they couldn’t breathe or continue reading. It got me reading the winning entries every year. **The 2016 winners** are here at this link… [http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2016win.html](http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/2016win.html) **Enjoy it!** _ **CSA** _ P.S. I’m looking forward to seeing some of **your entries** on there next year! ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/6 "2016-09-29T02:54:44Z")
“She went like a bird and a bomb” What does that mean? Like a bird I can guess, but like a bomb? How would a car be like a bomb? Does “bomb” mean like the way a bomb is typically shaped, long and sleek? And now I’m thinking about it, what does this sentence mean, the “knife-edged” part? " The rest of the blunt end was all knife-edged, rather ugly, trunk." I have to say Bond’s idea of rolling all the women in ones life together seems rather good … lol … ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/7 "2016-09-29T14:36:00Z")
**\_@GeorgeSanJose** \_ _ **“What does that mean? Like a bird I can guess, but like a bomb? How would a car be like a bomb? Does “bomb” mean like the way a bomb is typically shaped, long and sleek?”** _ From what I can ascertain, " [went or go] _like a bomb_" is a **British** expression that means: _to move very quickly_ **or** _move with great speed or success_. _ **CSA** _ ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/8 "2016-09-29T15:35:41Z")
> How James Bond Restores a Car- > bought the bits for £1500…Then Bond had gone to Mulliners with £3000 As my dad used to say- anybody can do it with money… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2016, 12:28am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/how-james-bond-restores-a-car/95875/9 "2016-09-30T00:28:35Z")
> [@TwinTurbo](#): > > £3000 The £3000 apparently was half of Bond’s total capital. If I spent half of my own capital on a car refurbishing, I’d be limited to a fill up 😉