Diamonds Are Forever
The Alley stunt car 1F05M160938
 and a few bits of 1F05M100066 and other no-Bond cars

© Mike Alameda, Wolfgang Kohrn 2001, updated 2024
A modified 351 Mach 1 and the other ones - destroyed, layed on the roof and more.
 One stunt car used in the movie that made the 2-wheel stand was a 351cui engine powered red 71 Mach 1 called later "the Alley car'. By best knowledge (since 2017) we speak of VIN 1F05M160938 further described below.

However other cars were used to film the various scenes on different dates.

For example in the movie you see the one with the white sidewalls that exits the scene later on and fals on its wheels (the wrong way around as it entered the movie scene as you can also spot in this shot).
There is still some discussion ongoing about the car used in the studio and at the additional necessary Las Vegas scenes.

 



  
On the left you see a look from under the car and maybe you can spot some of the modifications, which were done before the actual filming.

Buzz Bundy drove the car on 2 wheels through the narrow alley first.
Later some of the scenes (where the car exits the alley) were redone with a french stunt team and mixed with the originals for the movie.

Some scenes had to be refilmed again at the Universal studios, since flashlights and too many spectators got in the way during the repeated film scenes.
So actually there is not just one car, but most probably at least 2, if not 3 that were used for filming of the "working" stunt. According to narrations at least 4 are mentioned to be laid on the roof by another stunt team, which missed to get it on 2 wheels. Those were most probably the 302 engine equipeed ones.
Some dents visible on the Blue-Ray led to further research from In Search of Mustangs in late 2014 through 2017. Unfortunately the website that promised more hasn't been finished up to now by the team. They counted in total 6 Mach1 being used in the movie.

We just focus on this page on 1F05M160938 as one of them, but ISOM has found further hints as of early 2015 with Kevin Martis support about the background of movie car supply for Diamonds are Forever. According to that a second car with the same coding was identified. Stay tuned for further publications. We had expected it already for 2022 by Kurt Kaminer and Bo Durban, but nothing happened until mid 2024.

So stay tuned for more information coming from a different source soon in October 2024.

Buzz Bundy and the 
Tournament of Thrills

picture courtesy Mike Alameda
Let's look back on this car now with its picture/paper trail.

The Tournament of Thrills was a stunt car show team that had already its name before the BOND movie was actually filmed.

Buzz Bundy and his team was called in for the crash car scenes on the parking lot and the alley stunt, since he was known for successful 2-wheels driving.


The Tournament of Thrills show after the movie
Buzz Bundy used an M-code 351 Mach 1 after the BOND movie for his new stunt car show, though he had other Mustangs earlier. Here is an announcement flyer of this show showing pictures from the movie.

The text in the brochure reads as following:

"The Great James Bond Mustang Escape
In 'Diamonds are Forever' the James Bond Mustang cornered in a dead end street by pursueing police cars, hits a ramp and goes up on 2 wheels. Aiming for a narrow pedestrian walk, narrower than the car's width, he squeezes through the long alley, balancing on two wheels. The police car can't, of course, make it and Agent 007 escapes. The sequence at right shows, how it was done with Buzz Bundy, Tournament of Thrills stuntman, at the wheel doubling for Sean Connery.

One of the highlights of the James Bond hit 'Diamonds are Forever' is the exciting auto crash and chase scene. Tournament of Thrills was called in to do the stunts for these hilarious and hair-raising sequences and performed them in studio back lots and in the streets of Las Vegas. In these scenes, sharp eyed stunt fans may recognize versions of Tournament of Thrills events such as the ramp-to-ramp Jump, Dive Bomber Crash, Reverse Spins and Hi-Skis (two wheel driving). The drivers you see in todays show were the ones who drove the police car and the Agent 007 red Mustang."

Buzz Bundy and the car


Below:
Buzz Bundy with his attractive companion, the driving double for Jill St. John
picture courtesy Mike Alameda


#160938 as Joseph Brancellas reported it in 1998 (shown in the status as he bought it - maybe mid to late 70ies from TOT)

 

So Buzz basically performed the same stunts in the movie as in his Tournament of Thrills stunt show. The red 351 (M-code) Mustang Mach 1 probably saw a lot of such events and thus it probably will take a lot of time to restore it.

The car was later found in New York by Cars of the Stars (UK) Peter Nelson in Joseph Brancellas ownership and brought over to England to be reunited with other James Bond cars.
According to the Marti report and Lois Eminger reports from 1998 this Mustang was originally sold by Pacific Auto Sales in Long Beach to the production team 2 weeks prior to the filming and later bought by Joseph Brancella, who displayed it with the original side scripts of the Tournament of Thrills show.

Joseph asked for the invoice in January 1998 to Lois and gave permission to use his documents including pictures to Donald Farr and owners of the other cars, thus we are showing them off here.

It should be noted that 4 other Tournament of Thrills cars (amongst them a white and a red 71 hardtop and a white 70 Sportsroof) had a clear indication on the Eminger invoice copy about the delivery to the ToT team. Joseph Brancellas car not. So for a long time there was little evidence what a Pacific Auto Sales car had to do with the production team and the TOT car. But through thorough research a title chain proff could be obtained to verify 160938 as one of the survivors.

The Brancella car was obviously registered in the early 80ies in Florida, visible by the still intact tax stickers that are today on the displayed 160938.

Where is the Alley car today?
































































 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


This below is obviously not it!

Actually we had gotten this picture above early on from somebody and believed it was the car.

But further research in June 2021 with Guillaume Vesnat from France brought up that this red Mustang with a black front bumper, hood locks and the stickers on the co-drivers side - aside from the yellow headlights and fog lights -  was actually shown in the 1996 Bond Show during the Paris Mondial d'Automobile motorshow.

The Colline Motor Museum in Paris was involved, they had asked the MCDF for providing some Mustangs, but they had to turn down the request at that time. Where the cars actually were obtained is unclear, whoever has an idea, pls. write.
It is believed that all 3 were just replicas used for that purpose in Paris.


Another Mach 1 that is not the real car.
1F05M100066 is displayed since quite some time in the Bond in Motion display.

Since a few years it was on display in the Petersen Museum. However it has turned out that this car is as well not the real deal. It is another early car that was sent to the Las Vegas Convention Center for display.
Just like the car from Mike Alameda.

It is owned by the Ian Fleming Org. They bought it in good faith based on past knowledge, but that is it. Doug Redenious made a documentation about it. As of 2024 Mustang Brothers got the job to restore it and claim that the documentation will show that it is the Hero car. We don't think so, until further proof is shown. The chance of it being it is the same like for Mikes. Anyway there was also another early birght red 429 show car that is not mentioned so far. And one that was built exactly like it appeared in the movie (a derivation of a normal 429).
So stay tuned for future surprises in this Mystery story.
Here is 100066 shown earlier in UK.

The interior is even worse.
The car was at least from 2001 to 2013 in the 'Stars of the Cars' collection based in Keswick in the UK.
There had been plans that it would be restored, as it was in a sad condition (2002).
Many of the original modifications have been researched by the collection owner.

Peter Nelson himself updated us on the car in late 2007 with below picture. 
"I have not restored ours because I think it better to keep it as original as possible."

In a major sales action in 2013 of the Keswick Bond collection to Dezer in North Miami/Florida the char changed ownership and location.

I had a chance to see it close up in February 2015 in the Dezer collection. The museum was located off the US-1 at the 146th Street.
It was closed some years ago and the items moved to Dezerland, a new facility in a former shopping mall in Orlando. Though Dezerland is meanwhile open, the Bond show had not been opened as of June 2021. It will be acc. to latest news opened in September 2021.

First we've heard that the Diamond car was sold. But it is meanwhile visible in the Bond staged cars in the closed area of Dezerland.  Actually it is still in the FOR SALE section of the Dezer Museum website online as of July 2022, but you don't get an answer on your requests. Yes, I tried seriously!

We are glad to have received a spies shot of the car in the new Dezerland Bond exhibition.

Personally I would not wonder if Ford will come up with a 2022 Diamond SE Mustang and will show it together with one of the original cars from the 1971 movie within December or at the next January 2022 carshow. 
Same as they did in 2018 with the Bullitt Mustang. Why not?

____________________________________________________

Fortunately I was allowed to take some detailed shots inside and outside for the ponysite. Thanks to the museum staff for their hosting and listening.
The very good accessability of such valuable displays is appreciated.

Here is a short video of the Bond collection - stroll with me through the aisles. The museum is currently under reconstruction with 2 new areas to host the Bond collection in the future.

We will update this page soon with more detailed pictures of the unrestored features of 160938 plus more pics from it's pre-Keswick time. Stay tuned.


The interior shows some spots for further research like the shaft on the left side of the light button, the bracket near the right side panel forward of the door panel and many more details. The odometer reads about 11300 or 14300 miles on a first look. The Mustang in Bright Red (3) is obviously an automatic (U) and has a  Mach 1  Vermillion interior (5E), which corresponds with the Eminger invoice. It is noteworth that the current interior features red door panels and red seats. DSO 71 shows the destination of the factory build.

Some statistics and a rumour:
The Kevin Marti book Mustang by the numbers indicate that 1310 bright red with Vermillion Interior Mustang Sportsroofs were made.

In Total 41 show cars were produced in 1971. If the ones used in the movie were show cars or some bought on the spot in Las Vegas is not clear. There is some evidence that a 429 and the 351 were brought into the filming work later, so dealers in Las Vegas played a vital role in the further research. Some numbers are meanwhile under closer inspection therefore that might be likely those cars. Nothing proven yet, but we are on it again after decades. 2021 is the 50th Anniversary of the Bond movie and the 1971 Mustang. So why not present a new survivor with help from Ford again like the Bullitt original car in 2018.

More on the Alley car 1F05M160938, which is proven to be real.
Questions arise along with a different placement of the door tag sticker on the current car and the placement of it visible on the Buzz Bundy TOT car in a shot with an open door, so it is assumed that Buzz Bundy used also another bright red Sportsroof in his show as an replacement.
Dents and Dings in the movie scenes are also a matter of further proof on the todays existing car as repair and respray has taken place in the UK and at Dezers (repaint job).
There is a rumour that one of the Tournament Mustangs was turned into a cross-country car and may have disappeared.

Kurt Kaminer was allowed to inspect 1F05M160938 even closer than me and could dismount the rear seat bench and lift the carpet enough to see the mounting holes of the bolted in cage bars. The final proof of it being used for the stunts. Some other details also prooved right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See our Bond replicas or go back to the sidemenu of this webpage.

Disclaimer: Some information on these pages has either been directly or indirectly taken from the James Bond movies, copyright United Artists Corp./Eon Productions/Danjaq Inc. All copyrights are held by their respective companies. All information on these pages is for personal viewing only. Use of information on these pages for personal and/or commercial gain is strictly prohibited.

Back to homepage
To Bond main page