Chicago-area man collects ‘007’ vehicles for charity

CHICAGO — Doug Redenius’ first encounter with the fictional British undercover agent James Bond occurred at an Illinois film theatre again in 1964.

“I used to be eight years outdated and my dad took me to see ‘Goldfinger,’” Redenius recalled. “I used to be hooked. After ‘Goldfinger,’ my father and I went to see each James Bond film when it might come out.”

Redenius’ love for all issues 007 would finally result in his accumulating automobiles from the Bond films. He began this assortment in late 1991, when Redenius and two companions paid $3,000 for a Neptune submarine, which was featured within the 1981 Bond movie “For Your Eyes Solely”.

That buy was the idea for a set which now contains 42 automobiles from Bond movies. Redenius, a longtime resident of St. Anne, Illinois, in Kankakee County, now homes most of those automobiles in an undisclosed airplane hangar about an hour exterior of Chicago metropolis limits.

“It isn’t simply the Bond automobiles,” Redenius mentioned. “We personal all the pieces from helicopters and boat and bikes to jet airplanes. It is supreme that the automobiles are primarily based right here within the Chicago space, as a result of we’re centrally situated and it is simpler to ship the automobiles right here from the East or West.”

This illustrious assortment, which is valued at round $15 million, is now owned by the Ian Fleming Basis, a not-for-profit group created in 1992 by Redenius and his two companions – American producer/screenwriter John Cork and Dr. Michael VanBlaricum, a College of Illinois alumnus who works within the tech discipline within the Los Angeles space.

The inspiration, which is devoted to the research and preservation of literary works by Bond creator Ian Fleming, showcases its 007 film automobiles solely for charity. As an illustration, the exhibition of the Bond automobiles is used to assist fund an undergraduate analysis scholarship fund for the media division on the College of Illinois.

“We now have round 20 volunteers working with us to revive the automobiles,” Redenius mentioned. “Not one of the volunteers, none of us on the board make a wage. We survive off donations.”

At the moment, many the automobiles are being featured on the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles in an exhibit referred to as “Bond In Movement”. The exhibit can also be celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the launch of the muse.

“We’re celebrating our thirtieth anniversary, whereas the Bond movie franchise is celebrating its sixtieth anniversary – the primary Bond movie was ‘Dr. No’ in 1962. And the primary Bond novel was Fleming’s ‘On line casino Royale,’ which was printed 70 years in the past. So we’re celebrating loads of anniversaries.”

The inspiration’s charitable work with the Bond film automobiles is sanctioned by each the Ian Fleming property and the property of longtime Bond film producer Cubby Broccoli. And Redenius, who can also be the archivist for the Ian Fleming Basis, is accountable for finding the automobiles.

Lots of these automobiles are immediately recognizable to Bond followers. They embody the colourful inexperienced Jaguar featured in a memorable chase on the ice in “Die One other Day” (2002); two Polaris snowmobiles featured in a chase by the French Alps in “The World Is Not Sufficient” (1999); a not too long ago acquired jet featured in an iconic airborne combat scene in “Goldfinger” (1964); and probably the most priceless car within the assortment, a Lotus submarine automotive from “The Spy Who Beloved Me” (1977). That submarine automotive is valued at $1 million, Redenius mentioned.

“It is my favourite within the assortment,” Redenius mentioned.

Redenius, who spent a lot of his grownup life working as a postal employee in Kankakee County, by no means was blessed with limitless capital to buy these Bond automobiles. However he did not want massive sums of cash to amass a lot of the automobiles, which have been typically discarded by the film producers after the shoots have been accomplished.

“As soon as we acquired established, individuals started tipping us off on the place to search out a few of these automobiles after their films wrapped,” Redenius mentioned.

The jet from “Goldfinger,” as an illustration, was tipped off to Redenius final yr. “It had decommissioned in 1988 and was junked,” Redenius mentioned. “I did the analysis, and was capable of confirm it from its VIN quantity. Now we’re a yr into restoring it.”

His most notable acquisition, the Lotus submarine automotive from “The Spy Who Beloved Me”, was maybe Redenius’ most shrewd acquisition.

“I discovered that car in a junkyard within the Bahamas, it had been left behind by the producers,” Redenius recalled.

Along with the Bond automobiles, Redenius additionally owned different non-transportation-related Bond memorabilia, which he began accumulating in 1980. He ended up with over 18,000 Bond-related objects earlier than promoting that assortment in 2011.

Now the 66-year-old Redenius simply concentrates on the Bond automobiles.

“I nonetheless take pleasure in doing this,” he mentioned. “The hunt and acquisition (of the automobiles), that is what actually thrills me.”