Published at 19:36, Thursday, 26 March 2009

KESWICK’S James Bond museum will open on Sunday, April 5.

Film buff Peter Nelson has assembled more than 25 vehicles in the former Caterite building on the Southey Hill trading estate.

They include submarines, cars, motorbikes and speedboats that appeared in films including Diamonds Are Forever and Die Another Day.

Mr Nelson owns the town’s Cars of the Stars museum and said that had led to the opening of the new museum.

He said: “I’ve been collecting Bond pieces and Bond props quietly over the past 20 years.

“We collected them for the Cars of the Stars and Bond is a big part of the celebrity vehicles; there are 22 films so there is a lot to go at.”

Many of the pieces have been donated by actors and crew who worked on the films.

He added: “I got to the point of wondering if I should sell it for fans of Bond to be able to see everything.”

The museum is already attracting interest from across the globe.

Mr Nelson said: “People have already said they would fly over from America and Australia to see the vehicles, because they are so shocked and excited that someone has been able to have so much.

“I can’t believe it myself when I walk round.”

One of the museum’s star attractions will be the gun from the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun, which Mr Nelson bought in an auction.

However, his own personal preference is for a film further back in the Bond catalogue.

“My favourite Bond film is Goldfinger, because it has the Aston Martin DB5 with all the gadgets,” said Mr Nelson, who is also an artist.

“I have driven it round and you do feel like James Bond when you drive it.”

He will also mark the opening by unveiling his sculpture of Albert Brocolli, who produced many of the Bond films.

The opening date is the 100th anniversary of Brocolli’s birth.

Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk