Thoughts from the Curb

Sep 23, 2008 - Countdown to Bond: Licence to Kill's Mighty Kenworth Trucks

After the awesome Aston Martin Q car in the "The Living Daylights," Timothy Dalton went rogue as 007 in "Licence to Kill" and therefore went without any special transportation from Q branch. He did get to drive a Lincoln VII around Miami, but he doesn't like to talk about that. The bad guy drives a Maserati in the movie, but it also sucks.

That leaves the Kenworth W-900 big rig trucks used to haul tankers filled with cocaine-laced gasoline. In the films climactic chase and Bond-Villain battle, the trucks perform wheelies, fly off cliffs and go up on 9 wheels to avoid a Stinger missile (on its side). It's an amazing sequence and one filmed with great difficulty on a haunted road in rural Mexico -- the sight of multiple prior vehicle deaths, including a bus-full of nuns.

The trucks themselves went through a number of modifications to make the movie's stunts possible, including turbocharging their engines up to about 1,000 horsepower. The typical 1989 W900B had only 425 hp. Several were also given new suspension, steering brakes and modifications making it possible to drive remotely or using a second, hidden driver.

Unfortunately there's no YouTube rip of the chase, but it's worth checking out. If you like the grittier style of "Casino Royale," you'll also probably like "Licence to Kill" which is widely regarded to be the darkest film in the series. Although I have a sneaking suspicion that "Quantum of Solace" will surpass it.

-James Riswick

2:05 pm | Categories: bond cars Permalink | Alert Administrator

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