Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is the vintage racing car which is featured in the book, musical film and stage production of the same name. Writer Ian Fleming took his inspiration for the car from a series of aero-engined racing cars built by Count Louis Zborowski in the early 1920s, christened Chitty Bang Bang. The original Chitty Bang Bang's engine was from a Zeppelin dirigible. The name reputedly derived either from the sound it made whilst idling, or from a bawdy song from World WarI.
Six versions of the car were built for the film and several replicas have subsequently been produced. The version built for the stage production holds the record for the most expensive stage prop ever used.
Novel and inspiration
According to Fleming, the original Chitty Bang-Bang was built in 1920; it used a pre-War Mercedes chassis with a six-cylinder Maybach military aeronautical engine that was typically fitted to Zeppelins. The engine had four overhead valves per cylinder and twin Zenith carburetors; the car was more than with a bonnet long, finished in grey.
In the novel, the car is described as "a twelve-cylinder, eight-litre supercharged Paragon Panther. They only made one of them and then the firm went broke." At the time the Pott family purchased it, the car was a long, low four-seater in wrecked condition, lacking a bonnet and with British racing green paint peeling off in strips. After purchasing the derelict racer, the children excitedly note the old registration tag, "GEN 11", could be construed as "genii", referring to the powerful magical servants. Caractacus Pott restored the car over a period of three months, and noted "certain modifications, certain changes, had, so to speak, taken place all by themselves during the night, when I wasn't there. Certain – what shall I say? – rather revolutionary and extraordinary adaptations" which turn out to allow her to fly (as a flying car) when stuck in traffic, and allow her to float (as a hovercraft) when the family is stranded on a sandbar by the rising tide.
Film cars
For the 1968 film, at least eight cars were created, with two built as the Paragon Panther prior to its crash: +Chitty Chitty Bang Bang film cars No. Description Owner Publicly viewable 1 Fully-functional road-going car with registration GEN 11 (UK) / GEN 1i (NZ) Sir Peter Jackson 2 A supposedly “Slightly smaller” road-going car (though this is unconfirmed that this car was built narrower) Michael Dezer 3 Originally engineless, for trailer work and close-ups; UK registration GEM 11 Anthony Bamford 4 Flying model, typically shown on film advertisements & posters Ralph Spencer 5 Transforming model with aluminium trim Eon Productions 6 Hovercraft / boat N/A 7 Replica rebuilt from car filmed as Paragon Panther, two-seat race car no. 3 Gordon Grant 8 Paragon Panther, two-seat race car no. 3 Michael Dezer
Only the main road-going version used the registration GEN 11 legitimately until this car was sold in 2011 and it was owned by Pierre Picton of Stratford upon Avon. The other film cars were fitted with engines after filming was complete (except the other road-going car) and were used to promote the film throughout the world. The original racing variant with the British racing green livery and prominent Number 3 shown winning and crashing during the opening credits montage was converted some time after 2010 into a Chitty replica by Gordon Grant.
One of the original cars appeared in a humorous Public information film (PIF) by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency aimed at British motorists, reminding them to pay their Vehicle excise duty. Ironically, there was criticism as all cars built before 1January 1973 (older than 40 years since 2014), including the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang model, are exempt from vehicle excise duty in the UK. The PIF was a parody of the MGM film.
Chitty Prime (GEN 11)
The primary "Chitty" used to photograph most of the driving sequences in the film is a fully functional road-going car with New Zealand registration GEN 1I (formerly UK registration GEN 11). This car was designed by the film's production designer, Ken Adam, and cartoonist and sculptor Frederick Rowland Emett, built by Alan Mann Racing in Hertfordshire in 1967, fitted with a contemporary Ford 3000 Essex V6 engine and automatic transmission and allocated a genuine UK registration. The wooden body was manufactured by ship builders. They employed Architectural Metal Workers, Leonard and Eric Harrington of Ware to manufacture the external metal components. Actor Dick van Dyke, who drove the car in the film, said that "the car was a little difficult to maneuver, with the turning radius of a battleship". Chitty prime is approximately long and weighs . Externally, the main road-going Chitty prime can be distinguished from the other filming models by the presence of small position lights atop the front mud guards to meet motor vehicle standards.
This car was privately owned by Pierre Picton of Stratford-upon-Avon from the early 1970s until May 2011. He made numerous public appearances with the car up until the end of 2010, including stops in Malta (1990) and the city of Norwich in August 2009, to promote the theatre show. It was also used as a wedding car in Pierre’s home town of Shottery, Stratford upon Avon in August 1990 attracting much attention from tourists as it played its theme tune on its way through town with bride and groom on board. In 2002, it was used in an advert for the DVLA warning about road tax evasion. Public appearances of the car in 2010 were listed on the GEN 11 official website, with a note that there will be no more as the car was sent to Los Angeles to be auctioned on 22 May 2011. The auction price was expected to reach US$1–2million, but capped at $805,000 (£495,415) with the winning bid submitted by New Zealand film director Sir Peter Jackson, who according to his spokesperson said he would use it as a charity fund-raising vehicle. It was registered in New Zealand as GEN 1I, as the registration GEN 11 had already been issued.
Chitty Beta The second road version, a “slightly smaller car” (supposedly this car was built “slightly narrower” than the other Chitty’s made for the film though this is only rumoured and is unconfirmed by both Pinewood Studios and Alan Mann Racing who made the cars for the film), only appears in the film for around 3 minutes, however viewers have noticed that the wood used for the steering wheel was a darker wood and the wheel also sat higher on the dashboard, has appeared in a quite a few scenes throughout the film, thus speculating that this car was regularly used as a drivable stand in to the Chitty Prime.
Chitty Beta can be seen in these notable scenes below: when Chitty is driving past the train during the song Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Reprise) the last scenes in the song Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Reprise) - the scenes with the car going up the hill then going down the hill with the ocean in the background when Chitty is driving round the winding roads after the beach when Chitty is driving up the hill from the beach when Lord Scrumptious is driving behind and trying to get past Chitty, just before the railway bridge - this was actually the first scene shot for the film the scene just after the zeppelin flew over the scene just before the cast and car drove over the cliff at Beachy Head the car being driven and sat under the viaduct after Chitty has landed in “Vulgaria” the car that was in the village/town of “Vulgaria” & being towed up to the castle the car inside the Baron’s castle - this Chitty was fitted with secondary controls in the footwell of the car to make it look like the car was driving herself the scene where the car descended the staircase on the outside of the Castle before the flying Chitty was used for the following scene
There are several noted external differences that distinguish the Beta car from the Prime car: the support bars behind the radiator grille are vertical & not horizontal like the other Chitty’s the wood of the steering wheel is darker (as mentioned above) the steering wheel also sits higher on the dashboard (again as mentioned above is also similar to the other Chitty cars except the Prime which has a lower sitting steering wheel) the metal dashboard has a brushed, matte finish rather than a shiny, polished finish
This car may have been the first car made for the production of the film and if it was, the car would have most likely used for additional scenes during early production and others throughout the film. The car was used heavily for preproduction publicity shots.
This car was used to promote the American release of the film when filming ended. Eventually it was purchased by and displayed at the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in 2000, where it remained until the Keswick museum closed in 2011. The Cars of the Stars collection was purchased by collector Michael Dezer, where it was displayed in Miami as part of his eponymous collection. Dezer's collection has since moved to Orlando.
This car is now on display at the Stahls Automotive Foundation in New Baltimore, Michigan.
Trailer Chitty (GEM 11) This engineless Chitty was built for close-ups of the actors while driving; the body was mounted to a trailer and scenes were filmed from cameras on the tow vehicle. It had wings, though they were slightly different than the flying Chitty, and was used for both aerial shots as well as some aquatic scenes, filmed in the Pinewood Studios pool.
In this car, the steering wheel sits higher on the dashboard. In addition, the front position lights are carried at the bottom front edge of each mud guard.
Pierre Picton purchased the trailer Chitty in the early 1970s and had an engine fitted to it; he also modified the front-left mud guard to fly up for his circus act. Picton sold the car shortly afterwards, and the car was publicly displayed at the Heathfield Wildlife Park and The Rotunda in Folkestone before being sold in 1980/81 to collector Anthony Bamford, who registered it under GEM 11. Bamford has occasionally shown GEM 11 at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, UK.
Flying Chitty One car was built with wings and fiberglass pieces and filmed for flying scenes. The leading edges of the wings house folding propellers. This car was used for publicity stills to promote the film upon its release in 1968 and features prominently in posters.
In 1973, the flying Chitty was sold at auction for and subsequently was displayed at the Cavalcade of Cars, an exhibit at the Gaslight Village amusement park in the Village of Lake George, New York, starting in 1975. After the park closed in 1989, it was sold at auction in 1990 to Jim Rich, a Chicago businessman, who displayed it at his restaurant, Chicago West (billed as "Mona Lisa's Hideaway"), until it was sold again at auction in 2007 for to Ralph Spencer, a Florida resident. The car went through an extensive restoration before being put on temporary display at a Mulch-Production facility in 2018.
Transforming Chitty
A version with primarily aluminium fittings was built for the tidal scenes when Chitty has become stranded before transforming into a boat. It appears on screen for less than a minute, as its appearance was significantly different from the other Chitty’s; the aluminium was substituted as it was thought the sea and salt air would corrode the brass radiator surround of the primary filming cars. The lighter aluminium car also was hoisted for scenes showing the transformation to flying mode.