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September 8, 2006

Strange But True!

Q. In the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever,” the police chase undercover Bond and smuggler Tiffany Case through the streets of Las Vegas, dozens of cars in hot pursuit. Bond swerves in and out of traffic but is soon cornered in a dead-end alley with a narrow walkway at the end — too narrow! He yells to Tiffany to lean to one side and up over a small ramp they go, tipping the car onto two wheels to drive on out. Nice stunt?

A. Nice try, but at 3,000 pounds for the car, an estimated 7,500 pound-feet of torque was necessary to do the tipping, so the weight of Bond and Tiffany likely mattered little, says Barry Parker in “Death Rays, Jet Packs, Stunts & Supercars: The Fantastic Physics of Film's Most Celebrated Secret Agent.” Still, the leaning looked good in the movie. Tipping a car and staying there any length of time is extreme driving — rollover can occur, or with precise steering and enough maneuvering room the car can eventually be righted. Not easy in a tight walkway, so little wonder that of the 53 cars purchased for the chase scene, 24 were completely demolished.


 
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