The Man Who Supercharged Bond

A close relation of Winston Churchill, Amherst Villiers is perhaps best known as the man who supercharged the Blower Bentley (which his close friend Ian Fleming had James Bond drive in Casino Royale and Moonraker). However, he also developed racing cars, designed Malcolm Campbell's first land speed record breaking Bluebird and made a return to front-line motor racing in the 1960s with BRM and in the 1970s with Graham Hill's eponymous Grand Prix team. He spent the best part of 30 years in North America working for the likes of Grumman, Douglas and Boeing on a variety of space projects. In his spare time, he was a society portrait painter, and his paintings of Fleming and Hill hang in the London's National Portrait Gallery.