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Following its
appearance at the Brands Hatch Motor Racing Circuit in Kent, the Moon
Buggy was then showcased at other events in England from April
- July 1972 as Diamonds Are Forever was on general release in
cinemas across the country.
Appearances included:
1 April 1972 Battersea Park Easter Parade, London.
3-8 April 1972 Battersea Fun Fair, Battersea Park, London.
12 April 1972 Jodrell Bank Observatory, Cheshire - ‘Miss Great
Britain 1971’ Carolyn Moore poses with the Moon Buggy (pictured above
right).
10 June 1972 Children's Day - Festival of London, Crystal Palace
[Chitty Chitty Bang Bang also appeared].
17 June 1972 Leamington Ideal Home and Trade Exhibition,
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.
24 June 1972 Tonbridge Community Centre, Kent.
1 July 1972 Basingstoke Carnival, Hampshire.
8 July 1972 (left) Thornbury, Bristol - appeared at the “It's A
Knock Out” contest at Mundy Playing Fields, jointly organised by the Thornbury Round Table and District Scouts’ Association.
16-17 September 1972 Maisemore village, Gloucestershire -
Gloucester Round Table Steam Fair & Show. |
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21 April 1972 Screen Test - BBC
TV
This edition of the
popular children's film quiz Screen Test was broadcast on BBC1
Friday April 21, 1972 at 4.55pm, although the programme had been
recorded at the BBC studios in Manchester when the Moon Buggy was
transported to Cheshire for the Jodrell Bank photo-shoot (above). Screen Test
ran from 1970-1984, and was hosted by Michael Rodd (pictured far left)
until 1979. The programme often featured clips from the James Bond films, and also
appearances from cast and crew members.
The edition broadcast
on Wednesday January 13, 1971 featured
John Glen who
spoke about an action sequence from
On Her Majesty's Secret
Service to illustrate his work as second unit film director.
Desmond Llewellyn was the guest on the edition broadcast on Friday May
5, 1972 (whilst Diamonds Are Forever was on general release in
the UK) and demonstrated some of the gadgets used in the James Bond
films. |
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4 November 1972
Harveys of Camberley, Surrey
The last recorded public appearance of the
Moon Buggy was on November 4, 1972 at Harveys of Camberley, a
department store located on Park Street in the centre of the Surrey town,
home to the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Harveys department
store (then part of the Army & Navy Group) was opened in 1964 and
boasted a West End style shopping experience over its four floors, which
even included a licensed restaurant. Saturday November 4, 1972 saw the
arrival of Father Christmas who took part in a procession through the town
in a vintage bus. The Moon Buggy did not take part in the parade but was
on display for one day only in the service area behind the store. Santa
was “at home” in the Grotto on the first floor of Harveys until
Christmas Eve, where parents could purchase the
CORGI version of the Moon
Buggy (together with the
CORGI Ford Mustang) from
the
toy department. Released in June 1972, the CORGI Moon Buggy was available
as Diamonds Are Forever was on general release across the UK and
proved extremely popular, selling 189,000 units before its withdrawal in
1973. Diamonds Are Forever had screened at the 1,200-seat Classic
cinema in Camberley for seven days commencing April 30, 1972. Originally
part of the ODEON chain this was one of 40 cinemas that were sold to
the Classic Cinemas group in 1967. For the Camberley engagement
Diamonds Are Forever was supported by a short DePatie–Freleng cartoon ironically
titled Deadwood Thunderball. The cinema had also shown a
double-bill of Goldfinger/You Only Live Twice for one week
commencing Sunday September 24, 1972; and two weeks after the final
appearance of the Moon Buggy in Camberley From Russia With Love
(1963) could then be seen with The Thomas Crown Affair (1968) from Sunday November 19, 1972. From Russia With Love
made a return visit to the Classic Camberley for one week on Sunday May
19, 1974 - this time on a
double-bill with Diamonds Are Forever.
The Classic would later screen the
Diamonds Are Forever/Gold
double-bill for one week from Sunday January 2, 1977. The Classic Cinema
was tripled in 1973, with the former circle converted into screen 1 with
358 seats, and two screens located in an extension of the front of the
circle with seating for 155 and 131. Diamonds Are Forever/Gold
played on the smaller screen 3. |
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Roger Moore was announced
as the new James Bond in August 1972, by which time Diamonds Are
Forever had more or less finished its original theatrical engagement,
so the Moon
Buggy therefore became redundant as a marketing tool. Following the
promotional tours throughout 1972 the Moon Buggy then appears to have been dumped in a
farmer's field in Hextable, Kent - where it fell into a state of disrepair
whilst exposed to the elements for the next decade. In 1983 following a
tip from a old school friend Graham Rye
rediscovered the rotting vehicle parked in the Hillside Garage in Bilting, deep in the Kent countryside (pictured below left), but at
that time was unable to make a realistic offer to the then owner Trevor
Rose, who had literally bumped into the discarded Moon Buggy whilst on a
shooting trip and purchased it from the farmer. The rediscovery of the
Moon Buggy was reported in 007 MAGAZINE
Issue #15 (pictured below right). |
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In August 1985 the
Kentish Express ran a small news item under the title “Colin's Bond
buggy bargain”, which explained that Trevor Rose had sold the Moon Buggy,
and the address of the new owner was printed in full. However, Graham Rye
was unable to make contact with Colin Avenell, who had purchased the Buggy
for just £300, and like its previous owner, planned to have the vehicle
restored. After the rediscovery of the Kentish Express cutting
during a massive re-filing exercise in the 007 MAGAZINE archive in 1992,
Graham Rye was prompted back into action and visited the address published
in the newspaper. However, the owner had moved away nine months earlier
after his home was repossessed, and had sold the Moon Buggy. |
Knowing that various
other parties on both sides of the Atlantic were also searching for
the vehicle made the quest even more urgent. Undaunted, Rye
eventually managed to contact the new owner and a deal to purchase the
vehicle was concluded. The Moon Buggy was found in a field in Kent
surrounded by all manner of vehicles unprotected from the elements.
On December 18, 1992 it
was transported by trailer to Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire.
The Moon Buggy
then underwent five months of extensive restoration when Graham Rye
engaged a top team of experts to return the
unique vehicle to its original condition. Two decades of exposure to
the elements had really taken their toll on the already fragile vehicle. |
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The restoration of the
Moon Buggy was featured in several newspapers in the South of England, and
on June 24, 1993 the vehicle was finally unveiled before travelling to the Heritage
Motor Centre in Gaydon, Warwickshire to appear at ‘The World's Biggest
Little Motor Show’ organised by toy manufacturer
CORGI. |
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1993 Pinewood Studios,
Buckinghamshire
22 years after it was first used for
filming the Moon Buggy was returned to Pinewood Studios. Before and
after its restoration, 007 MAGAZINE Editor & Publisher Graham
Rye was given permission by Cyril Howard, Pinewood’s then Managing
Director, to store the Moon Buggy at the studios gratis before it went
to the USA. |
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26-27 June 1993 Gaydon, Warwickshire
The restored Moon Buggy makes its first public
appearance at ‘The World’s Biggest Little Motor Show’ organised by toy
manufacturer CORGI.
007 MAGAZINE contributor Robin Harbour is pictured above in the Moon
Buggy, which appeared alongside James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 and
Lotus Esprit. The two-day event held at the Heritage Motor Centre Gaydon, Warwickshire also featured an appearance by Wing Commander Ken
Wallis and his autogyro ‘Little
Nellie’, in what turned out to be his final public air show. |
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12 December 1993 Pinewood Studios,
Buckinghamshire
Held at Pinewood Studios and partly in
aid of Guide Dogs For The Blind, the 1993
James Bond 007 Fan Club 'Diamonds Are Forever' 22-Carat
Christmas Lunch was attended by
Lois Maxwell,
Desmond Llewelyn,
Paul Weston,
Syd Cain and
Iris Rose. The recently refurbished Moon Buggy from Diamonds
Are Forever was also on display before leaving for America. |
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1994 - 2004 Planet Hollywood, Las
Vegas, Nevada
Following the restoration to its
original condition, the Moon Buggy was displayed as the impressive
centrepiece in Planet Hollywood's restaurant at
Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas from 1994 to 2004.
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On Tuesday July 31, 2001
the Moon Buggy was offered in auction by Fleetwood Owen at Planet
Hollywood, (London) but failed to sell. After a 10-year tenure at
Planet Hollywood, Las Vegas the Moon Buggy was eventually returned to the
UK eight months later than was contractually obligated. |
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Offered in auction at CHRISTIE'S ‘Film
and Entertainment’ sale on Tuesday December 14th 2004, the Moon Buggy sold for
£23,000 and was purchased by Planet Hollywood owner Robert Earl,
with the intention of using it in their then latest project the Planet
Hollywood Las Vegas Resort & Casino. For whatever reason the vehicle
was not displayed at Planet Hollywood’s new venue and sat in their
Florida storage facility for the next 15 years unseen by the public.
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September 25, 2019
‘The Icons & Legends of Hollywood
Auction’, California
In 2019 the Moon Buggy was offered once
more for auction in the USA, this time by Profiles in History
located in California. The Moon Buggy was one of the star
attractions in the two-day auction of Hollywood memorabilia, and sold
for $400,000 + ($112,000) buyer's premium.
The buyer and current
location of the Diamonds Are Forever Moon Buggy remains a
mystery...
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