The history of the film
Live and Let Die is the 8th e opus of agent 007. James Bond is called to stop the murders of British secret agents. He then investigates in the Harlem district of New York and must face the fearsome Dr. Kananga, a drug kingpin and his accomplice, the strange Lonely White.
The boat, a Glastron GT 150 launch
It is a mythical scene in the film that will make the Glastron GT 150 famous, James Bond is pursued by Dr Kananga's henchmen through the bayous of Louisiana. He is aboard the famous orange star, pursued by two other Glastron stars. And to escape his pursuers, he will make a spectacular jump over Sheriff JW Pepper's police car, before landing on the other side of the swamp.
This jump was also included in the Guiness des Records with a length of 36.57 m (120 feet). He is the only jump to have been counted, so we do not know the jump length of the other boats (one of James Bond's pursuers also manages to jump over the median)
Anecdotes about the Glastron GT 150
The boat used to make this improbable jump was built on August 24, 1972. It is equipped with an Evinrude Starflite 135cv engine. In the photo where the boat is flying over the policeman, pointing his pistol, we can see two small black rails, allowing to stabilize the boat on its ramp of takeoff. Other modifications have been made to facilitate the waterfall and balance the boat: central mounting of the steering wheel and central installation of a single seat.
The scene had to be replayed over 100 times to get the final shot. Moreover this scene of jump was almost cancelled because of the numerous failures and the destruction of boats. The directors had to call on Tulane University to help them calculate the speed, the balance... Finally, on October 16, 1972, the cascade could be realized thanks to the perfect recommendations and calculations of the university. The first jump made that day was the only one filmed and used in the film! During the jump, the fibreglass windshield cracked slightly and was repaired many years later when it was purchased
Bond In Motion Exhibition in London
Only 2 GT 150 were equipped with a steering wheel and a central seat as well as a non-slip wooden hull. But in the end, only one of them was used for the shooting. The other was used as a replacement and was never used. The unused one was returned to stock and was sold when the one used in the film, damaged was sold"as is" with its steering wheel and center seat intact.
The Glastron GT 150 used to set the record was sold just after shooting on October 16, 1972. It is the only one that could be identified as having been used for the film since it is the only GT150 to have a serial number. Now it belongs to the Ian Flemming Foundation and can be seen at the London Film Museum in the James Bond Vehicle Exhibition.
Beaulieau Motor Museum
In total, Glastron built and sold 26 boats for the production of the film, coming directly from Austin to Texas. But most were damaged, sunk... In total, 17 were damaged. The few survivors were sold as used boats by production. The others went back to Austin or to dealers. Before that, it was proposed to the film crew to buy back the second-hand boats.
Many Glastron GT 150 S were sold after the film was released and the boats became extremely popular. However, most, if not all, of the boats sold after the film were 1973 versions. Indeed, the new model of the year 1973 was released shortly after the shooting, in October 1972 and well before the release of the film in June 1973.
