National Motor Museum, Beaulieu until November 2022

Get up close and personal with some of the vehicles from James Bond’s No Time to Die at the National Motor Museum.

The 50th anniversary of James Bond was celebrated at Beaulieu, Hampshire in 2012 with their Bond in Motion exhibition of vehicles, which extended into 2013 before moving to a permanent location in London and now across to the United States. A smaller, more focused exhibition of vehicles from No Time to Die has opened within the museum, showing through to November 2022.

The iconic silver grey Aston Martin DB5 greets you at the front of the display, its headlight machine guns spinning periodically, to the delight of visitors. This is mocked-up like the bullet-riddled version as featured at the beginning of the film, though on closer inspection the scratches and bullet holes are transfers.

The Triumph scrambler 1200XE motorbike as used by Primo (and then ‘borrowed’ by Bond for the spectacular jump onto the bridge) sits to the side of the DB5, as do a selection of gadgets – bionic eye, Seamaster watch and mini mines. A damaged Land Rover Defender 110, as driven by Logan Ash, sits alongside a more traditional 1977 Land Rover Series III (used by Bond in Jamaica), flanked by Nomi’s Royal Alloy Scooter.

The far section of the display comprises the 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air as commandeered by Paloma in Cuba, a gorgeous Aston Martin DBS Superleggera as driven by Nomi, and the Aston Martin V8 as first driven by Bond in The Living Daylights and taken out of the garage for a spin in No Time To Die. Sitting above the cars is the impressive folding glider, though it’s tricky to get a clear shot of it from the public vantage points.

Verdict: Not on the scale of the previous Bond in Motion exhibit, this No Time to Die exhibition is a timely reason to visit this excellent museum, which also houses a huge selection of other iconic and classic cars. Time to join the Q. 9/10

Nick Joy