212 New Kings Road near Parsons Green. The old premises for H.J Mulliner & Co automobile body maker who Bond refers to in Chapter 7 of Thunderball. Bond commissioned Mulliner’s to saw off the cramped body of the wrecked Continental Bentley he had bought and replace it with a trim, convertible two-seater affair.
Also in the novel Bond refers to the location where the accident happened. I have documented that location in a previous article here.
GREAT WEST ROAD upon which some rich idiot married a Mark || Continental Bentley to an apparently unforeseen telegraph pole. Bond bought the bits and had Rolls straighten the chassis and replace the engine with that of the more powerful Mark lV.
Bond also relates this story again to the chief range officer at the National Rifle Association in “Property of a Lady”.
According to Gary Giblin’s book James Bond’s London,
In 1961, the year of Thunderball’s publication, H.J Mulliner merged with Park Ward, a division of Rolls Royce, and today, as Mulliner Park Ward, operates from the Rolls premises in Pyms Lane, Crewe, Cheshire.
The coachbuilding business closed in 1991 and in 1998 it was acquired by Bentley when Volkswagen Group bought Rolls-Royce Motors, but the Mulliner name is used for the personal commissioning department of the current Bentley manufacturer. (According to WIKI).
There is an interesting back story top H.J Mulliner (although no mention of Bond) on the Bentley website, Legend of Mulliner:
Today, Mulliner operates as Bentley’s personal commissioning division. It offers a range of products and services from premium options that can be fitted to Bentley production cars as they are built, to truly unique bespoke luxury cars such as the Bentley Bacalar and the new Bentley Batur.
The 212 New Kings Road building is now offices. It’s easy enough to find as there is a huge neon sign above a wooden picketed fence. There is a cafe to one side that is disconnected with the office building (the actual 212 Kings Road) behind.
You can wander into the office building without too much suspicion, although there is a reception desk at the front and it’s deemed good manners to declare the nature of your visit.
I made the enquiry about the building and its history, much to the confusion of the young bespectacled lady behind the desk. Another lady of more portly build confirmed this is now offices although confirmed the building did use to be a manufacturing headquarters for Mulliner. Their website also confirms that,
212 New Kings Road is the transformation of the historic former home of H J Mulliner & Co, the Rolls Royce and Bentley coach builder, to a modern green campus providing newly-refurbished office suites from 85 sqft up to 3000 sqft.
More Bond locations listed on the map. For the physical map visit our shop.
