When it comes to 007 and gadgets, nobody does it better. Bond’s gadgets are in a class of their own, from his deadly briefcase and cyanide cigarette to jet-propelled scuba tank, explosive toothpaste, pen gun, and laser beam Rolex wristwatch.
We’ve poked around Q’s workshop to bring you a dozen of 007’s top gadgets and gizmos - some of which you can even own!
The stealthy bird glider
“I assume you know how the stealthy bird works?” Q asks 007 in No Time to Die. We are soon introduced to one of the most magnificent gliders ever imagined, a fictional two-seater winged craft that can descend from high altitude and fold into submersible mode with an underwater propeller. Even Q seems smitten with his new toy. “Don’t forget to release the chute and open the wings,” he warns the 00 team in a motherly tone. “Gravity isn’t always your friend.”
Bell-Textron Jet Pack
Bond’s flying machines have always been legendary. When 007 (Sean Connery) needs to make a quick escape in Thunderball he turns to his Bell-Textron Jet Pack low-power rocket propulsion device. The 007 film crew searched for existing equipment so the Jet Pack wouldn’t appear gimmicky. They discovered that Bell Aerospace developed a Rocket Belt for the US Army in 1959 but decided that the 20-second flying time limit was too dangerous. Q’s workshop adapted the idea for 007 and the Jet Pack also makes a quirky cameo in Die Another Day. Today’s modern-day Martin jetpack flies for 30 minutes - yet caution is advised. It comes with an emergency ballistic parachute and a price tag of $100,000 and upwards.
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When it comes to 007 and gadgets, nobody does it better. Bond’s gadgets are in a class of their own, from his deadly briefcase and cyanide cigarette to jet-propelled scuba tank, explosive toothpaste, pen gun, and laser beam Rolex wristwatch.
We’ve poked around Q’s workshop to bring you a dozen of 007’s top gadgets and gizmos - some of which you can even own!
The stealthy bird glider
“I assume you know how the stealthy bird works?” Q asks 007 in No Time to Die. We are soon introduced to one of the most magnificent gliders ever imagined, a fictional two-seater winged craft that can descend from high altitude and fold into submersible mode with an underwater propeller. Even Q seems smitten with his new toy. “Don’t forget to release the chute and open the wings,” he warns the 00 team in a motherly tone. “Gravity isn’t always your friend.”
Bell-Textron Jet Pack
Bond’s flying machines have always been legendary. When 007 (Sean Connery) needs to make a quick escape in Thunderball he turns to his Bell-Textron Jet Pack low-power rocket propulsion device. The 007 film crew searched for existing equipment so the Jet Pack wouldn’t appear gimmicky. They discovered that Bell Aerospace developed a Rocket Belt for the US Army in 1959 but decided that the 20-second flying time limit was too dangerous. Q’s workshop adapted the idea for 007 and the Jet Pack also makes a quirky cameo in Die Another Day. Today’s modern-day Martin jetpack flies for 30 minutes - yet caution is advised. It comes with an emergency ballistic parachute and a price tag of $100,000 and upwards.
Incredibly, the ThunderballSkyhook gadget that pulls Bond and Domino to safety is also based on real-life tech used by the CIA to retrieve people on the ground. Agency inventor Robert Edison Fulton Jr. developed the surface-to-air recovery system (STARS) in the early ‘50s, refining a method used by American and British forces during WWII to retrieve downed personnel and assault gliders. Instead of a balloon, a line stretched between poles which were set in the ground on either side of the person to be retrieved. A C-47 Skytrain or other aircraft then trailed a grappling hook to engage a line attached to the person who needed to be rescued.
007’s Aston Martin DB5 raced by Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye, on display at SPYSCAPE NYC HQ
Bond’s gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5
There’s no denying the allure of 007’s Aston Martin DB5, particularly the DB5 memorably raced by Pierce Brosnan in GoldenEye (1995) which comes complete with a champagne cooler, and the Goldfinger (1965) DB5 which boasts a smoke screen, oil slick feature, revolving license plates, and an ejector seat. If you haven’t got a cool $6m to splash out on a Bond car or DB5 special edition model, you may want to check out the more affordable No Time To Diemodel car scaled at 1:36 with Italian registration plates.
The deadly flick knife shoe
Rosa Klebb’s poisoned, hidden-blade shoe in From Russia with Love (1963) has been recreated in many movies including The Dark Knight. The assassin tool consists of a retractable, poison-coated spike embedded in the tip of Klebb’s shoe. Flick knife shoes play an even bigger role in the novel when Klebb initially kills Bond (a plot twist reversed when Ian Fleming decided to bring 007 back for another adventure). While we’re betting it is illegal to buy assassin shoes we couldn’t help but note the Oliver Sweeney For Your Feet Only collection once boasted a shoe fit for a secret agent.
Q’s cast is capable of firing off a missile
Q’s deadly blast cast
There’s much to admire in GoldenEye, including Bond’s pen which hides a Class 4 grenade - three clicks arm the four-second fuse, another three disarm it. We’re also a fan of the grappling belt concealing a piton gun that can fire out up to 75 feet of high tensile wire. Top honors, however, go to Q’s leg cast. “Skiing?” 007 enquires. “Hunting,” Q says while firing off a missile.
Little Nellie
When Q ships in Bond’s Little Nellie (WA-116) helicopter in You Only Live Twice, Bond marvels at his new toy - kitted out with two forward-firing synchronized machine guns, rear-firing flamethrowers, twin smoke ejectors, and aerial mines for ground targets. There’s also a miniature parachute, of course. Little Nellie was based on a British autogyro developed in the ‘60s by former Royal Air Force Wing Commander and inventor Ken Wallis. Wallis, who flew 28 bomber missions over Germany, was recognized as the oldest pilot to set a world flight record at age 89.
Dentonite exploding toothpaste
License to Kill has some of the coolest gadgets in any Bond film - remember the exploding alarm clock ‘guaranteed never to wake up anybody’? There’s also a camera gun that doubles as a sniper rifle, and of course the broom radio. We’re giving Q a shout-out for the Dentonite toothpaste, however, the latest in plastic explosives detonated by using a pack of cigarettes with a hidden receiver. Bond cleverly used the toothpaste during an assassination attempt on Franz Sanchez.
007’s watch can create a magnetic field to deflect bullets
Bond’s Rolex Buzz Saw
Bond’s tricked-out watches have featured everything from a laser cutting tool to a tech-destroying Electromagnetic Pulse. Top marks go to the Rolex submariner watch in Live and Let Die which sold at auction for $365,000. What’s so special about it? For starters, the stainless steel watch can create a magnetic field to deflect bullets - or in Bond’s case unzip a woman’s dress. According to the script, it was also fitted with a buzz saw bezel capable of cutting through rope.
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service was George Lazenby’s only Bond movie
Lint tracker
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969) is long on action, short on gadgets although Q does show M a fantastic homing device disguised as lint: "Placed in an opponent's pocket, the location fix and anti-personnel uses should be obvious." M, however, is more concerned with locating Bond, who is nowhere to be found.
The Lotus submarine car
The famous Lotus Esprit submarine car bought by Elon Musk for just under $1m was a prop in The Spy Who Loved Me (1997). The Lotus did, however, inspire motorsport firm Rinspeed to make a working aquatic Lotus based on a Lotus Elise but with reworked internals and exterior modifications to make it submersible. The ‘sQuba’, as it’s known, is road legal and could be yours for a cool $300,000.
Ski bubble jacket
Bond’s stylish gray ski jacket comes with a twist courtesy of Q-branch in The World Is Not Enough (1999). Afterone of 007’s thrilling ski chases, the jacket inflates into a giant ball, saving his life in an avalanche. Today, similar air bag clothing is used by Grand Prix motorcycle racers whose jackets deploy on impact to prevent injury. The kit has now also been adapted for ski racers to protect their chest, shoulders, and backs. Sensors in the vest detect when the racer is about to crash and their airbags inflate within 100 milliseconds.
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