James Bond Fans Preserving Vehicles Used In The Films

Some James Bond fans travel to the Chicago area every year to work on the vehicles used in Bond movies, from the cars and motorcycles to a submarine. 

One of our News On 6 team members is part of the Ian Fleming Foundation and shares what it's like to work with such famous pieces of history.

Picking your favorite James Bond character can be tough for some folks, but not for fan Ron Bonsack.

"Sean Connery, Sean Connery is, but I got to say Daniel Craig was just incredible," he said.

The first time Ron saw a James Bond movie was in 1977 when he saw The Spy Who Loved Me.

That began a love for the franchise and Ian Fleming, who created the Bond character.

Now, Ron gets to see all of the James Bond history up close and in person. 

"From the submarine to an airplane, we have a helicopter, and a lot of this runs, it still runs. We have several cars and boats," he said.

Ron is a member of the Ian Fleming Foundation, a group dedicated to preserving the legacy of the author and his most popular character.

He joined the nonprofit 14 years ago and now, two weekends every year, he gets to go to Illinois to do maintenance on the 40 or so vehicles used in James Bond movies. 

"When you go there, you know, you have a total sense of pride, because these vehicles really mean something, it's a legacy of Ian Fleming who created the character of James Bond," he said.

He says the vehicles are leased out over time to different museums and exhibits.

When they get back, Ron and the others work on them and make sure they're still in perfect condition.

He's always loved movie production and set design and says being a small part of it all is surreal.

"Today everything is digital, you got to remember you look at those old movies they're the real thing, they had to build these sets, it's a real set, and it's amazing what they've done with these James Bond movies," he said.

He says one of the coolest things about it is all the people he's met through the foundation.

People from Sweden and the UK and so many other places all travel in for the work weekends, sharing their interest in James Bond and preserving movie history.

"I've met many, many people I would have never gotten to meet, so it's been a wonderful experience, yea, it's just great," he said.

To learn more about the Ian Fleming Foundation, click here.