A red 1974 AMC HORNET X is one of the most memorable сars of the 1974 James Bond film titled “The Man with the Golden Gun” because of the famous corkscrew jump. Also it was the only time a Bond car has been an AMC.
The film was directed by Guy Hamilton and stars Roger Moore.
So why AMC Hornet X
The car was used due to product placement. James Bond finds a dealership full of new AMCs in Bangkok, Thailand, where normally no AMC cars were sold by scenario. He steals the red AMC Hornet X (with J.W. Pepper inside) from the showroom and chases Francisco Scaramanga, who is driving an AMC Matador Coupe.
After a car chase through dense Bangkok traffic, both cars leave the city and chase each other on different sides of a river. In order to get onto the other side, Bond uses a destroyed bridge as a ramp, in order to perform a spiral roll over the river, onto the other side. This stunt called “The Corkscrew Jump”. Bond later abandons the AMC at Scaramanga’s Hangar.
The Corkscrew Jump Facts
The famous corkscrew jump of an AMC Hornet X over a twisted, broken bridge in Thailand is notable for a number of reasons: first, this was the only time a Bond car (even a temporary one) has been an AMC, which is a glorious event to celebrate regardless.
The US racing driver Jay Milligan conceived the stunt and even performed it in 1972 at the Houston Astrodome in an AMC Javelin, christening the stunt ‘The Astro Spiral Jump”. Milligan contacted the Bond producers with the stunt who promptly protected it preventing it appearing in any other preceding films. Milligan was the stunt driver in the AMC Hornet for the other scenes of the film but was called away from filming before performing the Corkscrew Jump. 15 AMC Hornets were used in filming with 2 set aside for the Corkscrew Jump.
The Stunt is credited with being the first to be computer simulateFamous d. The software had been developed by Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory for use in a road safety applications.
