Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang

Ian Fleming, best known for creating James Bond, wrote *Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car* as a children's story. John Burningham provided the illustrations. The book first appeared in three separate volumes, with the first released on 22 October 1964 by Jonathan Cape, and was later collected into a single volume. The story follows the Pott family and their extraordinary car, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, which possesses secret powers and abilities.

Fleming drew inspiration from a series of racing cars built in the early 1920s by Louis Zborowski, which were also called "Chitty Bang Bang" and used aero engines. He wrote the book while recovering from a serious heart attack, having originally created the tale as a bedtime story for his son, Caspar. Fleming wanted *Daily Mail* cartoonist Trog (the pen name of Wally Fawkes) to illustrate the book, but the newspaper would not let him take on the project, so Burningham was hired instead. Fleming died of a heart attack on 12 August 1964, two months before the book was published.

The story was serialised in the *Daily Express* and turned into a comic strip. A loose film adaptation, with a screenplay by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, came out in 1968. Albert R. Broccoli, co-producer of the James Bond films, produced the movie, and a novelisation of the film was also released. A stage musical adaptation followed. In April 2011, BBC Radio 4 Extra broadcast an adaptation featuring Imogen Stubbs as the voice of the car. Frank Cottrell-Boyce has written three sequels to Fleming's original book.

**Plot**

Caractacus Pott, a former Royal Navy commander, invents sweets that double as whistles and sells the idea to Lord Skrumshus, the wealthy owner of a local confectionery factory. With the money, Pott buys and restores an old car: a "Paragon Panther," the only model ever made by the now-bankrupt Paragon motor-car company. It is a four-seat touring car with a very large bonnet. After restoration, the family names the car after the sound of its engine, which goes "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang."

At first, Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang is simply a big, powerful car, but it soon begins to act on its own. This first happens when the family is stuck in traffic on the way to the beach for a picnic. The car tells Commander Pott to pull a switch, which makes it sprout wings and fly over the stopped cars.