Take a look at the Bentley 4½ Litre that features in Young Bond: SilverFin

Cars are as important to any James Bond story as guns and gadgets, and the Young Bond adventures are no exception.

In SilverFin, the first of Charlie Higson’s Young Bond novels, soon to be released as a full-cast audio drama, the teenage James Bond takes a ride in his Aunt Charmian’s battleship grey Bentley 4½ Litre.

This stylish sports car was manufactured by Bentley Motors between 1927 and 1931 and became an icon of pre-war British motor racing.

It’s now a key part of the visual design for the upcoming SilverFin audio drama, due for release in October.

The car featured in the photo shoot with Young Bond actor Isaac Rouse was a Bentley Blower Jnr provided by Hedley Studios, who create hand-built reinterpretations of classic cars.

Ben Hedley, founder of Hedley Studios said: “The Bentley Blower Jnr is a fully electric reinterpretation of one of the most iconic racing cars ever built. It takes the character, design and engineering spirit of the original 1920s Bentley Blower and modernises it at 85% scale and with 48-volt electric power, all while retaining the distinctive details that make the Bentley Blower so instantly recognisable.

“The car featured in the photoshoot is just one of 349 examples to be handcrafted worldwide. To see it brought to life in a Young Bond setting was particularly fitting; the Blower Jnr has exactly the sense of adventure and style that you associate with Bond.”

Writer and director Barnaby Edwards said: “The reality of espionage work is crashingly dull, as Ian Fleming knew better than almost anyone. That’s why his fictional spy, James Bond, leads a life that is the opposite of that humdrum existence: the exotic locations, the colourful villains, the outlandish plots, the beautiful women, the extraordinary gadgets, and above all the cars. Bond lives life in the fast lane.

“Rather brilliantly, Charlie Higson makes this a Bond family trait – his Aunt Charmian loves cars, his Uncle Max loves cars and teaches James to drive, and so it’s entirely natural that the teenage Bond should love cars too. Petroleum runs through the veins of the Bonds.”

Producer Robert Valentine added: “The reason that cars are so important to a Bond story is very simple; it’s because cars were very important to Ian Fleming. There are actually two iconic cars in SilverFin: Aunt Charmian’s Bentley 4½ Litre, the ‘Blower’ Bentley, and Uncle Max’s Bamford and Martin, in which James learns to drive.

“Bond obtains his own battleship grey Bentley Blower in 1933, not long after the events of SilverFin, and it’s a car which the adult Bond is still driving in the first three of the Fleming novels, namely Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, and Moonraker.”

Watch a behind the scenes of the photoshoot with Isaac Rouse, Ben Hedley and Head of Marketing and Publicity Big Finish Productions Ltd Steve Berry.

Find out more about the Young Bond audio drama at www.youngbondadventures.com