The word "iconic" is overused these days, but there is no better one to describe the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang flying and floating, magical car from the 1968 movie of the same name. An original Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car is now on the market if you're on the market for a collectible. And can afford it.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a ‘68 fantasy musical film by director Ken Hughes, telling the story of an inventor, his family, and their “fine four-fendered friend,” the magical car that could drive on the road, fly and hover, and sail like a boat. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang used as a donor vehicle the body of a Grand Prix race car that had crashed and burned in 1909 and was about to be crushed.
Roald Dahl and Hughes wrote the screenplay, based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car, published in 1964. Ian Fleming is, as you probably know, the mastermind behind the James Bond franchise – Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was his foray into children's literature.
Through the years, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang became a cultural icon, with many interpretations and spinoffs. One of them was the 2005 Broadway play, for which one single magical car was built. That car went on a tour of the United States after it appeared in all Broadway performances and is now up on the auction block with Bonhams.
Unlike the ‘68 movie, which used six different vehicles in order to show each operating mode (and only one was truly drivable), the play used just one that integrated all the functions. It doesn’t fly, of course, but it does have wings that expand from under the body; it doesn’t sail either, but it has the boat body.
Built primarily of fiberglass over a metal chassis and polished aluminum hood aged to replicate the ‘68 car, the Broadway car has all the features shown in the film. These include the foldable windshield, the GEN 11 license plate, the “friend-seeking” headlights, the “boa constrictor” horn, the wicker picnic basket in the rear, the Scrumtiometer and the Pottsometer dials on the dashboard, and an identical steering wheel. The foldable wings have helicopter-style rotor blades, and there’s another set of wings hidden in the front and rear. The wheels also fold at the axles for when the car needs to fictionally hover.
The vehicle sells with a Playbill and theater program for the production, and a £30,000 - £50,000 estimate, which is roughly $37,000 - $61,800 at the current exchange rate.
Here is the magical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car in the ‘68 movie trailer.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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