Most of 007’s gadgets didn’t actually work in real life. But Tom Bailey’s found the modern tech of Q’s dreams.
These are the tools, devices and gear that Bond himself wouldn't mind in his kit locker.
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Just add scuba gear
007: Lotus Esprit S1 Submarine Car
The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
The famous Lotus Esprit submarine car was just a prop (you can see the cable in the film), but inspired the boss of motorsport firm Rinspeed to make a working aquatic Lotus. His sQuba does 75mph on land and can dive thanks to water jets.
£263,000; rinspeed.com
snow saviour
007: Inflating Ski Jacket
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Pierce Brosnan narrowly escapes death-by-avalanche with the help
of a inflatable jacket that cocoons him in a bubble of air. It was inspired by real avalanche airbags, such as the Mammut Alyeska Protection Vest. Yank the trigger and a 150-litre balloon inflates in three seconds, helping you to float atop the loose powder without ending up entombed in ice. Sounds like fun.
£590; mammut.ch
The hunt is on
Large homing device
Goldfinger (1964)
Bond’s early satnav piqued the interest of the CIA, who tried (and failed) to replicate the technology. GPS is standard now – homing beacons such as the Tile attach to any item and track it via Google Maps.
£17; thetileapp.com
q’s finest moment
007: Bell- Textron Rocket Belt
Thunderball (1965)
The Bell Textron ‘rocket belt’ piloted by Sean Connery’s Bond really did work – but only just. It burned liquid fuel so fast that flights lasted 20-30 seconds, making landing ‘a real adventure’. This modern Martin Jetpack is much less terrifying; it has two engine-driven fans and flies for 30 minutes. That said, you might want to ask yourself why it comes with an ‘emergency ballistic parachute’.
£99,000; martinjetpack.com
next-gen ladder
007: Mountaineering Pistol
Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
Sean Connery swung off the side of Willard Whyte’s Las Vegas casino tower with a grapple gun that looks a lot like the Plumett AL 50 Air Launcher. It uses compressed air to fire a grappling hook attached to a 45m rope, and is mainly used by the military.
£9,776; plumett.co.uk
A twitcher’s dream
Tasco 7800 Miniature Binoculars
The Living Daylights (1987)
The modern version of Timothy Dalton’s Tasco binoculars are these Leica x Zagato Ultravid 8x32s, with Trinovid lenses.
£2,465; leica-camera.com
the pipes are calling
007: Bagpipe flamethrower
The World Is Not Enough (1999)
The XM42 is the world’s first ‘grab and go’ flamethrower – and the modern version of the flaming bagpipes in Q’s lab. It has a 25ft reach and can spout out 38 seconds of fire.
£658; xm42.com
forget instagram
007: Minox B 8x11 Camera
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (1969)
George Lazenby’s Bond famously employs a tiny Minox camera to photograph top secret plans in Ernst Blofeld’s lair. OK, so he’s holding it upside down and pressing the wrong button, but never mind. Minox doesn’t make the old film model, but it does still make excellent miniature cameras, such as this matchbox-sized (7x5cm) DCC 14-megapixel Digital Classic Camera.
£170; minox.com
life in a tiny can
007: Underwater Breather
Thunderball (1965)
Divers scoff at Bond’s cigar-sized underwater breather – it would have held half a breath’s air. The Spare Air Xtreme Sport, however, is a tiny scuba tank that holds 10-15 breaths.
£185; spareairxtreme.com
in case of nuclear fallout…
007: Breitling Geiger Counter
Wristwatch, Thunderball (1965)
The film prop sold for £103,000 at auction – but you can have MTM’s Special Ops Black Rad; it has an integrated Geiger-Mueller tube that detects radiation and sounds an alarm at the max threshold.
£990; specialopswatch.com
one for the school run
Land Rover
The Living Daylights (1987)
Timothy Dalton clung to the roof of a hijacked Land Rover in his first Bond film – but it was more the kind driven by Young Farmer Of The Year hopefuls. Spectre sees the debut of the military-spec, Defender Big Foot. You can order yourself one from Land Rover’s Special Operations wing, complete with a winch and a satellite phone.
£TBC; landrover.com
