It's Grεεκ To Me

RichardTheBruce

j_w_pepper wrote: »

And what brand of sneakers does Craig wear, at least in the CR Venice scenes? Right.

Nike / νίκη ; Νίκη / ˈnaɪki ; nīˈkē / noun
1. Greek goddess of victory

Greek (Nikē, victory; nēik, to attack). Old English (ga næstan, to fight).

Nike: in ancient Greece, a goddess representing victory. Sometimes presented with wings. Known for victory, strength, speed. Daughter of Titan Pallas, goddess Styx. Sister of Kratos (for strength), Bia (of force), Zelus (zeal).

Closely associated with Zeus, and Athena. At a time Zeus gathered allies among the Olympians to battle the older Titans (in the Titanomachy), Styx brought forward her offspring. With Nike, her role was to drive the divine chariot, and to fly over battles dispensing glorious rewards. Her wreath of laurel or bay leaves is a symbol of victory.

Winged Victory of Samothrace, The Louvre, France.


Nike on the roof of Parliament, Vienna, Austria.

Nike crowns a victorious charioteer.



Nike in Bond’s world can be related to the inspiration for several company symbols:
- Nike, Inc. running shoes. (1 instance)
- Honda Motor Company Ltd. (x 15)
- Rolls-Royce Holdings plc. (x 19)

RichardTheBruce

The Nike Swoosh logo came with a name change from Blue Ribbon Sports (BRS) to Nike, Inc. in 1971.
Designed by Portland State University student Carolyn Davidson, it communicates motion
(in a consciously different manner than rival Adidas).



Suggested relations from the logo to the Greek Nike.

RichardTheBruce

Casino Royale, Martin Campbell, 2006.

Nike Air Articulate II.

Nike Air Articulate II
http://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/nike-air-articulate-ii


The shoes that Bond wears during the Casino Royale Venice scene, seem to be a pair of Nike Air Articulate II. Another hard to find item, as these were already out of production at the time of the release of the film.

The exact color/fabric combination is still unidentified.

RichardTheBruce

Honda wing logo history. http://www.onlytrial.com/1/the_honda_logotype_120282.html

The original 1947 then 1948 Honda logos from co-founder Mr. Soichiro Honda drew on the wing image from the Greek goddess Nike. Variations over the years are applied to motorcycle production activities (the largest worldwide since 1959).


1948 Victory Wings.

1968.


1988 Honda Fireblade design.



Honda tank logo used today.


While the Honda company origins and the wing logo are with motorcycles,
all Honda Bond connections found are represented below.

RichardTheBruce

Diamonds Are Forever, Guy Hamilton, 1971.

Honda ATC 90 Quad and other all-terrain. 00:59:46
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=56955

RichardTheBruce

Licence to Kill, John Glen, 1989.

1983 Honda Prelude [AB] Coupé.

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=728163

RichardTheBruce

Tomorrow Never Dies, Roger Spottiswoode, 1997.

1984 Honda Civic Hatchback.

http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=529561

1984 Honda Jazz.

1995 Honda Civic Liftback.

RichardTheBruce

The World Is Not Enough, Michael Apted, 1999.

1987 Honda CBR 400 RR Road .
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=469098

1992 Honda Civic.

RichardTheBruce

Casino Royale, Martin Campbell, 2006.

1994 Honda Accord [CD] Sedan.
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=323069

2003 Honda Element Off-road / SUV. 00:40:00
imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=91825

Honda FES Scooter. 01:34:53
imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=91821

RichardTheBruce

Skyfall, Sam Mendes, 2006.

2009 Dongfeng-Honda Civic
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=675954

Honda CRF 250 R.
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=518740

Honda CRF 250 R All-Terrain Sports.
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=610716

2004 Honda Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE CVT [GD] Hatchback.
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=610681

RichardTheBruce

Spectre, Sam Mendes, 2012.

1996 Honda Accord [CD] Sedan. 02:16:43
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle.php?id=849815

RichardTheBruce

Drive or be driven. So says modern ad copy for Rolls-Royce.

The Story Behind The Rolls-Royce Hood Ornament: The Spirit of Ecstasy
By Rolls-Royce Raleigh on October 7, 2015 in Lifestyle
http://blog.rolls-roycemotorcarsraleigh.com/the-story-behind-the-rolls-royce-hood-ornament-the-spirit-of-ecstasy-raleigh-durham-cary-nc/

In 1905, Lord Montagu enlisted sculptor Charles Sykes to create an iconic symbol for Rolls-Royce in the spirit of Greek goddess Nike. Reportedly Sykes went from that instruction to represent a more realistic feminine figure. The first version of The Spirit of Ecstasy: The Whisper. A woman on one foot, flowing gown, a finger to her lips. (Conversation of the day said it represented Lord Montagu’s secretary and mistress Eleanor Velasco Thornton, and their hushed liaison.)

The original piece The Whisper can be seen at National Motor Museum in Beaulieu.



Next, Rolls-Royce asked the sculptor for a creation to appear on all their automobiles. Managing Director Claude Johnson asked for: “The spirit of Rolls-Royce, namely, speed with silence, absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy, and a beautiful living organism of superb grace…”

So Mr. Sykes offered: “A graceful little goddess, the Spirit of Ecstasy, who has selected road travel as her supreme delight and alighted on the prow of a Rolls-Royce motor car to revel in the freshness of the air and the musical sound of her fluttering draperies.”

1929 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Imperial Cabriolet example.

The modern edition of The Spirit of Ecstasy is improved digitally to favor Eleanor Thornton (embracing company myth and legend). Hand-cast by wax process in stainless steel, 24-carat gold, frosted crystal, even studded diamond versions.



Based on the original intent for the bonnet ornament, 19 identified appearances of Rolls-Royce automobiles follow.

RichardTheBruce

From Russia With Love, Terence Young, 1963.

1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Limousine Park Ward [LELW21] Sedan. 00:24:17
imcdb.org/vehicle_18802-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Wraith-LELW21-1958.html

Bond: Could you get me a plan of that place?

Kerim: I wish I could.

Bond: The original drawing must be registered somewhere.

Kerim: I'll get onto that. Now, I need a little time to deal with this stinking Krilencu. It will be better if you didn't stay at the hotel tonight. Come!

Bond: I see now why you keep the Rolls.

Kerim: One of my sons is driving it. With two dummies in the back. In the opposite direction. They'll follow it for hours.

Goldfinger, Guy Hamilton, 1964.

1937 Rolls-Royce Phantom III Barker Sedanca de Ville [3BU168] Sedan. 00:32:14
imcdb.org/vehicle_2640-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-III-3BU168-1937.html

Goldfinger: Smuggling is an art, Mr Ling. And art requires...In this case, the bodywork of my Rolls Royce is 24-carat gold. We dismantle it here. Reduce the gold in this special furnace, which in turn...weighing approximately two tons. I make six trips a year to Europe in the Rolls Royce, Mr Ling.

Mr. Ling: It would be wiser to suspend your other activities.

Goldfinger: Mr Ling, please assure your principals Operation Grand Slam will have my undivided attention...

Thunderball, Terence Young, 1965.

1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_56399-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Cloud-II-1962.html

RichardTheBruce

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Peter Hunt, 1969.

1954 Rolls-Royce Phantom IV by H.J. Mulliner [4BP7] Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_56929-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-IV-4BP7-1954.html

1962 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III Standard Steel Saloon Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_189893-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Cloud-III-1962.html

1968 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow Drophead Coupé Mulliner Park-Ward Convertible.
imcdb.org/vehicle_18619-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-Drophead-Coupe-1968.html

RichardTheBruce

The Man With the Golden Gun, Guy Hamilton, 1974.

1969 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_3121-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-I-1969.html

Bond: Follow that Rolls! ... Madam, would you be good enough to move this inverted bedpan?

Goodnight: Sorry l'm late, James, but your signal from Macau just reached the office.

Bond: You're a great help, Goodnight. Now, get on to Licence Bureau and trace that car. A green Rolls.

Goodnight: A green Rolls?

Bond: A green Rolls-Royce. There can't be that many in Hong Kong.

Goodnight: Courtesy cars. All green Rolls-Royces belong to the Peninsula Hotel. You see what a two-year posting to Staff lntelligence does for a girl? James, it's wonderful to see you.

Moonraker, Lewis Gilbert, 1979.

1973 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I LWB Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_6205-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-I-LWB-1973.html

RichardTheBruce

For Your Eyes Only, John Glen, 1981.

1969 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I LWB Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_12573-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-I-LWB-1969.html

Octopussy, John Glen, 1981.

1934 Rolls-Royce Phantom II Sedanca de Ville Windovers [181RY] Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_18113-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-II-181RY-1934.html

1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_58603-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-I-1974.html

A View to a Kill, John Glen, 1985.

1958 Bentley S1 with Rolls-Royce grille [B287FD] Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_2642-Bentley-S1-B287FD-1958.html

RichardTheBruce

Licence to Kill, John Glen, 1989.

1959 Rolls-Royce Phantom V Mulliner Park Ward Limousine Limousine. 00:01:36
imcdb.org/vehicle_4314-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-V-1959.html

1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_18043-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-II-1978.html

Pam: Sanchez has tripled his security. You'll never get another shot at him.

Bond: We don't have to. Meet me at the harbour master's office in two hours. Q, bring the Rolls to the front.

Q: Yes, sir!

RichardTheBruce

GoldenEye, Martin Campbell, 1995.

1980 Rolls-Royce Silver Spur Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_59619-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Spur-1980.html

Tomorrow Never Dies, Roger Spottiwoode, 1997.

1969 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow I.

imcdb.org/vehicle_59962-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-I-1969.html

The World Is Not Enough, Michael Apted, 1999.

1978 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II Sedan.
imcdb.org/vehicle_4200-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Shadow-II-1978.html

Bond: Now......where were we?

Zukovsky: A rope, please!

Bond: No. The truth. She has M.

Zukovsky: I know nothing.

Bond: Those blades were meant for you. What does Elektra King want you dead for?

Zukovsky: It was you who destroyed my factory. Then you drown my Rolls-Royce... and now you're trying to drown me in my own caviar! Let me out!

Bond: Too bad we don't have any... champagne.

Dr. Jones: Or sour cream.

RichardTheBruce

Spectre, Sam Mendes, 2015.

2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé. Convertible.
imcdb.org/vehicle_879536-Rolls-Royce-Phantom-Drophead-Coupe-2008.html

1948 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith Limousine. 01:37:51
imcdb.org/vehicle_861960-Rolls-Royce-Silver-Wraith-1948.html

Madeleine: What's that?

Bond: That is a 1948 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith.

Driver: Please.

Madeleine: I'm scared, James.

Agent_99

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

The original 1947 then 1948 Honda logos from co-founder Mr. Soichiro Honda drew on the wing image from the Greek goddess Nike.

I ride a Honda and I had no idea that's where the wing came from. Cool!

(I would love Honda to cut a similar Bond promo deal to the one BMW had with the bike in TND, because I'm sure my local Honda shop would give me all their promotional goodies...)

RichardTheBruce

Here's another Honda presence from the novels for you, @Agent_99.

You Only Live Twice, Ian Fleming, 1963.
Part Two - '... than to arrive - Chapter 12 - Appointment in Samara

AT six in the morning, a car from the Prefect of Police in Fukuoka came for them. There were two police corporals in the front seat. They went off northwards on the coast road at a good pace. After a while, Bond said, 'Tiger, we're being followed. I don't care what you say. The man who stole my wallet was in the fugu restaurant last night, and he's now a mile behind on a motor-cycle - or I'll eat my hat. Be a good chap and tell the driver to dodge up a side-road and then go after him and get him. I've got a sharp nose for these things and I ask you to do what I say.'

Tiger grunted. He looked back and then issued rapid instructions to the driver. The driver said, 'Hai!' briskly, and the corporal at his side unbuttoned the holster of his M-14 automatic. Tiger flexed his powerful fingers.

They came to a track on the left which went into the scrub. The driver did a good racing change and pulled in out of sight of the road. He cut his engine. They listened. The roar of a motor-cycle approached and receded. The driver reversed sharply on to the road and tore off in pursuit. Tiger issued more sharp instructions. He said to Bond, 'I have told him to try warning the man with his siren and if he doesn't stop to ride him into the ditch.'

'Well, I'm glad you're giving him a chance,' said Bond, beginning to have qualms. 'I may be wrong and he may only be a Fuller brush man in a hurry.'

They were doing eighty along the winding road. They soon came up with the man's dust and then there was the machine itself. The man was hunched over the handlebars, going like hell.

The driver said something. Tiger translated, 'He says it's a 500 c.c. Honda. On that, he could easily get away from us. But even Japanese crooks are men of discipline. He will prefer to obey the siren.'

RichardTheBruce

Maybe you can suggest what an early 60s 500cc Honda might be, @Agent_99.
I can't find anything that big.

Agent_99

RichardTheBruce wrote: »

Maybe you can suggest what an early 60s 500cc Honda might be, @Agent_99.
I can't find anything that big.

That's a very interesting question and I don't have a satisfactory answer. (I can, however, state that you do meet the nicest people on a Honda.)

500cc would have been a pretty big engine for a bike back then, as you point out, and more common on the track than on the road. But it's not unusual for cc to be rounded up (my '750' has a 745cc engine, and the '700' I had before was 670cc), so the 500 isn't necessarily an exact figure.

Something in the long-running CB family, I reckon. The Super Hawk (305cc but punching way above its weight) looks like a possible candidate to me.

Honda were very new to Europe at the time, and not yet imported (officially) to the UK, so Fleming probably didn't have a lot of data to go on (maybe reports from the Isle of Man TT races?).

I will be seeing my friendly local mechanic this week, and he knows everything about everything, so I will ask him!

RichardTheBruce

Finishing off the Rolls-Royce references.

RichardTheBruce

Dr. No, Ian Fleming, 1958.
Chapter II - Choice of Weapons

Three weeks later, in London, March came in like a rattlesnake.

From first light on March 1st, hail and icy sleet, with a Force 8 gale behind them, lashed at the city and went on lashing as the people streamed miserably to work, their legs whipped by the wet hems of their macintoshes and their faces blotching with the cold.

It was a filthy day and everybody said so-even M, who rarely admitted the existence of weather even in its extreme forms. When the old black Silver Wraith Rolls with the nondescript number-plate stopped outside the tall building in Regent's Park and he climbed stiffly out on to the pavement, hail hit him in the face like a whiff of small-shot. Instead of hurrying inside the building, he walked deliberately round the car to the window beside the chauffeur.

"Won't be needing the car again today, Smith. Take it away and go home. I'll use the tube this evening. No weather for driving a car. Worse than one of those PQ convoys."

Ex-Leading Stoker Smith grinned gratefully. "Aye-aye, sir. And thanks." He watched the elderly erect figure walk round the bonnet of the Rolls and across the pavement and into the building. Just like the old boy. He'd always see the men right first. Smith clicked the gear lever into first and moved off, peering forward through the streaming windscreen. They didn't come like that any more.

RichardTheBruce

Goldfinger, Ian Fleming, 1959.
Chapter Six – Talk of Gold
…
'All right,' said Bond. I think I've got the picture. Now what's your particular problem?' He sat back and lit a cigarette. He was greatly looking forward to hearing about Mr Auric Goldfinger.

Colonel Smithers's eyes took on their hard, foxy look. He said, 'There's a man who came over to England in 1937. He was a refugee from Riga. Name of Auric Goldfinger. He was only twenty when he arrived, but he must have been a bright lad because he smelled that the Russians would be swallowing his country pretty soon. He was a jeweller and goldsmith by trade, like his father and grandfather who had refined gold for Faberge. He had a little money and probably one of those belts of gold I was telling you about. Stole it from his father, I daresay. Well, soon after he'd been naturalized - he was a harmless sort of chap and in a useful trade and he had no difficulty in getting his papers - he started buying up small pawn-brokers all over the country. He put in his own men, paid them well and changed the name of the shops to "Goldfinger". Then he turned the shops over to selling cheap jewellery and buying old gold - you know the sort of place: "Best Prices for Old Gold. Nothing too Large, Nothing too Small", and he had his own particular slogan: "Buy Her Engagement Ring With Grannie's Locket." Goldfinger did very well. Always chose good sites, just on the dividing line between the well-to-do streets and the lower-middle. Never touched stolen goods and got a good name everywhere with the police. He lived in London and toured his •shops once a month and collected all the old gold. He wasn't interested in the jewellery side. He let his managers run that as they liked.' Colonel Smithers looked quizzically at Bond. 'You may think these lockets and gold crosses and things are pretty small beer. So they are, but they mount up if you've got twenty little shops, each one buying perhaps half a dozen bits and pieces every week. Well, the war came and Gold-finger, like all other jewellers, had to declare his stock of gold. I looked up his figure in our old records. It was fifty ounces for the whole chain! - just enough of a working stock to keep his shops supplied with ring setting and so forth, what they call jewellers' findings in the trade. Of course, he was allowed to keep it. He tucked himself away in a machine-tool firm in Wales during the war - well out of the firing line - but kept as many of his shops operating as he could. Must have done well out of the GIs who generally travel with a Gold Eagle or a Mexican fifty-dollar piece as a last reserve. Then, when peace broke out, Goldfinger got moving. He bought himself a house, pretentious sort of place, at Reculver, at the mouth of the Thames. He also invested in a wellfound Brixham trawler and an old Silver Ghost Rolls Royce - armoured car, built for some South American president who was killed before he could take delivery. He set up a little factory called "Thanet Alloy Research" in the grounds of his house and staffed it with a German metallurgist, a prisoner of war who didn't want to go back to Germany, and half a dozen Korean stevedores he picked up in Liverpool. They didn't know a word of any civilized language so they weren't any security risk. Then, for ten years, all we know is that he made one trip a year to India in his trawler and a few trips in his car every year to Switzerland. Set up a subsidiary of his alloy company near Geneva. He kept his shops going. Gave up collecting the old gold himself - used one of his Koreans whom he had taught to drive a car. All right, perhaps Mr Goldfinger is not a very honest man, but he behaves himself and keeps in well with the police, and with much more blatant fiddling going on all over the country nobody paid him any attention.'

Part Two: Coincidence; Chapter Eight- All to Play For
…
Alfred Blacking came into the workroom and picked up Bond's clubs. He looked very directly at Bond. He said, 'Remember what I told you, sir.' One eye closed and opened again. 'I mean about that flat swing of yours. It needs watching - all the time.'
Bond smiled at him. Alfred had long ears. He might not have caught the figure, but he knew that somehow this was to be a key game. 'Thanks, Alfred. I won't forget. Four Pen-folds - with hearts on them. And a dozen tees. I won't be a minute.'

Bond walked through the shop and out to his car. The bowler-hatted man was polishing the metal work of the Rolls with a cloth. Bond felt rather than saw him stop and watch Bond take out his zip bag and go into the club house. The man had a square flat yellow face. One of the Koreans?

Bond paid his green-fee to Hampton, the steward, and went into the changing-room. It was just the same - the same tacky smell of old shoes and socks and last summer's sweat. Why was it a tradition of the most famous golf clubs that their standard of hygiene should be that of a Victorian private school? Bond changed his socks and put on the battered old pair of nailed Saxones. He took off the coat of his yellowing black and white hound's tooth suit and pulled on a faded black wind-cheater. Cigarettes? Lighter? He was ready to go.

Chapter 10 – Up at the Grange
…
Bond had had a good look at the chauffeur. He was a chunky flat-faced Japanese, or more probably Korean, with a wild, almost mad glare in dramatically slanting eyes that belonged in a Japanese film rather than in a Rolls Royce on a sunny afternoon in Kent. He had the snout-like upper lip that sometimes goes with a cleft palate, but he said nothing and Bond had no opportunity of knowing whether his guess was right. In his tight, almost bursting black suit and farcical bowler hat he looked rather like a Japanese wrestler on his day off. But he was not a figure to make one smile. If one had been inclined to smile, a touch of the sinister, the unexplained, in the tight shining patent-leather black shoes that were almost dancing pumps, and in the heavy black leather driving gloves, would have changed one's mind. There was something vaguely familiar to Bond in the man's silhouette. It was when the car drove away and Bond had a glimpse of the head from the rear that he remembered. Those were the head and shoulders and bowler hat of the driver of the sky-blue Ford Popular that had so obstinately hugged the crown of the Herne Bay road at about twelve o'clock that morning. Where had he been coming from? What errand had he been on? Bond remembered something Colonel Smithers had said. Could this have been the Korean who now travelled the country collecting the old gold from the chain of Goldfinger jewellery shops? Had the boot of the innocent, scurrying little saloon been stuffed with the week's takings of presentation watches, signet rings, lockets, gold crosses? As he watched the high, primrose-yellow silhouette of the Silver Ghost disappearing towards Sandwich, Bond thought the answer was yes.

…
Bond didn't know what he had expected, but there seemed to be the usual accoutrements of a small metal-working business. Facing him were the open mouths of two blast furnaces, their fires now drawn. Beside these stood a row of kilns for the molten metal, of which sheets of different sizes and colours stood against the wall near by. There was the polished steel table of a circular saw, a diamond saw presumably, for cutting the sheets, and to the left in the shadows a big oil engine connected to a generator pounding away making power. To the right, under arc lights, a group of five men in overalls, four of them Koreans, were at work on - of all things - Goldfinger's Rolls Royce. It stood there gleaming under the lights, immaculate save for the right-hand door which had been taken off its hinges and now lay across two nearby benches minus its door panel. As Bond watched, two men picked up the new door panel, a heavy, discoloured sheet of aluminium-coloured metal, and placed it on the door frame. There were two hand riveters on the floor and soon, Bond thought, the men would rivet the panel into place and paint it to match the rest of the car. All perfectly innocent and above-board. Goldfinger had dented the panel that afternoon and had had a quick repair job done in preparation for his trip tomorrow. Bond gave a quick, sour look round, withdrew from the window and went out by the factory door and closed it softly behind him. Nothing there, damn it. And now what was his story? That he had not wanted to disturb the men at their work - perhaps after dinner, if one of them had a moment.

Bond walked unhurriedly back the way he had come and regained the hall without misadventure.

Chapter 22 – The Last Trick
…
Bond said calmly, 'You meet the wrong traffic cop and that Pinkerton card of yours won't be good enough. It isn't so much that you drive slowly, it's holding back the cars behind they'll book you for. The sort of car you need is a nice elderly Rolls Royce Silver Ghost with big plate-glass windows so you can enjoy the beauties of nature' - Bond gestured towards a huge automobile junk heap on their right. 'Maximum fifty and it can stop and even go backwards if you want to. Bulb horn. Suit your sedate style. Matter of fact there should be one on the market soon - Goldfinger's. And by the same token, what the hell's happened to Goldfinger? Haven't they caught up with him yet?'

RichardTheBruce

On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, Ian Fleming, 1963.

Chapter 2 – Gran Turismo
…
And so the race went on, Bond gaining a little on the straights but losing it all to the famous Lancia road-holding through the villages - and, he had to admit, to her wonderful, nerveless driving. And now a big Michelin sign said 'Mon-treuil 5, Royale-les-Eaux 10, Le Touquet-Paris-Plage 15', and he wondered about her destination and debated with himself whether he shouldn't forget about Royale and the night he had promised himself at its famous casino and just follow where she went, wherever it was, and find out who this devil of a girl was.

The decision was taken out of his hands. Montreuil is a dangerous town with cobbled, twisting streets and much farm traffic. Bond was fifty yards behind her at the outskirts, but, with his big car, he couldn't follow her fast slalom through the hazards and, by the time he was out of the town and over the Staples-Paris level-crossing, she had vanished. The left-hand turn for Royale came up. Was there a little dust hanging in the bend? Bond took the turn, somehow knowing that he was going to see her again.

He leaned forward and flicked down the red switch. The moan of the blower died away and there was silence in the car as he motored along, easing his tense muscles. He wondered if the supercharger had damaged the engine. Against the solemn warnings of Rolls-Royce, he had had fitted, by his pet expert at the Headquarters' motor pool, an Arnott supercharger controlled by a magnetic clutch. Rolls-Royce had said the crankshaft bearings wouldn't take the extra load and, when he confessed to them what he had done, they regretfully but firmly withdrew their guarantees and washed their hands of their bastardized child. This was the first time he had notched 125 and the rev. counter had hovered dangerously over the red area at 4500. But the temperature and oil were OK and there were no expensive noises. And, by God, it had been fun!

Chapter 20 - M en Pantoufles
…
M would have preferred to live by the sea, near Plymouth perhaps or Bristol - anywhere where he could see the stuff whenever he wanted to and could listen to it at night. As it was, and since he had to be within easy call of London, he had chosen the next best thing to water, trees, and had found a small Regency manor-house on the edge of Windsor Forest. This was on Crown Lands, and Bond had always suspected that an ounce of 'Grace and Favour' had found its way into M's lease. The head of the Secret Service earned £5,000 a year, with the use of an ancient Rolls Royce and driver thrown in. M's naval pay (as a Vice-Admiral on the retired list) would add perhaps another £1,500. After taxes, he would have about £4,000 to spend. His London life would probably take at least half of that. Only if his rent and rates came to no more than £500, would he be able to keep a house in the country, and a beautiful small Regency house at that.

These thoughts ran again through Bond's mind as he swung the clapper of the brass ship's-bell of some former HMS Repulse, the last of whose line, a battle-cruiser, had been M's final sea-going appointment. Hammond, M's Chief Petty Officer in that ship, who had followed M into retirement, greeted Bond as an old friend, and he was shown into M's study.

RichardTheBruce

The Man With the Golden Gun, Ian Fleming, 1965.
Chapter 2 – “Pistols” Scaramanga

...
Porterfield's benign, almost priestly countenance assumed an expression of theatrical solemnity as if he had read something really terrible in the tea leaves. "Then what happens today?" Lily clasped her hands tensely and bent her head fractionally closer to get the full impact of the news. "The old man says, 'Porterfield. A bottle of Infuriator. You understand? A full bottle!' So of course I didn't say anything but went off and brought it to him. But you mark my words, Lily"--he noticed a lifted hand down the long room and moved off--"there's something hit Sir Miles hard this morning and no mistake."

M. sent for his bill. As usual he paid, whatever the amount of the bill, with a five-pound note for the pleasure of receiving in change crisp new pound notes, new silver and gleaming copper pennies, for it is the custom at Blades to give its members only freshly minted money. Porterfield pulled back his table and M. walked quickly to the door, acknowledging the occasional greeting with a preoccupied nod and a brief lifting of the hand. It was two o'clock. The old black Phantom Rolls took him quietly and quickly northwards through Berkeley Square, across Oxford Street and via Wigmore Street, into Regent's Park. M. didn't look out at the passing scene. He sat stiffly in the back, his bowler hat squarely set on the middle of his head, and gazed unseeing at the back of the chauffeur's head with hooded, brooding eyes.

For the hundredth time, since he had left his office that morning, he assured himself that his decision was right. If James Bond could be straightened out--and M. was certain that that supreme neurologist, Sir James Molony, could bring it off--it would be ridiculous to re-assign him to normal staff duties in the Double-O Section. The past could be forgiven, but not forgotten--except with the passage of time.

CommanderRoss

The MIG 21 isn't a Delta dear @RichardTheBruce . For a true delta winged aircraft doesn't have horizontal stabilisers. That's th interesting and unique feature of the deltawing design. They can, however, have extra steering wings at the front, known as 'canards', freelee translating into 'duck wings' (is that good enough for the birding Bond threat?). Anyway, Nike, the Nike Hercules Anti Aircraft rockets or SAM's:



There was also the Nike- Ajax system (it's predecessor) and th Nike Zeus (an nti-ballistic variant).

j_w_pepper

CommanderRoss wrote: »

The MIG 21 isn't a Delta dear @RichardTheBruce . .

Whether you have a technical point or not, it seems that most of the immediately available websites do not agree:

"The MiG-21 has a delta wing" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-21)

I'd say that if the wings form a triangle, it passes for delta even if the tail has additional stabilisers or whatever.