It’s a piece of cinema history and this week it went under the hammer – fetching £495,415 at auction.

Dubbed Chitty, the Ford-built car was the star of the 1968 musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a classic family film based on the book by Ian Fleming.

It was one of five cars made for the movie, but Chitty was the only fully functioning model and the only one registered with the famous number plate, GEN 11.

So what does the new owner get for his money?

Well, Chitty boasts a 3 litre V6 engine, which sits under a polished aluminium bonnet. It has a body handmade from cedar and a dashboard that was lifted from a WW1 fighter plane.

The iconic car (of which there is a replica at the Beaulieu Motor Museum) joins the ranks of other vehicles made famous in films. Here are some of our favourites… Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 Featuring an ejector seat, revolving numberplates and machine guns, the DB5 was first used by Bond in the 1963 film, Goldfinger.

An instant classic, it subsequently starred in other Bond films and at a recent auction one of the DB5s used by 007 fetched £2.5million – although sadly it wasn’t equipped with Q’s extras.

The Bandit’s Trans Am Last year Pontiac went out of business after 84 years, during which they were probably most famous for manufacturing the Trans Am.

This muscle car was used by moustachioed anti-hero, Bandit (played in Smokey and the Bandit films by Burt Reynolds), as he evaded the wrath of Sheriff Buford T Justice.

The Trans Am was a working class hero, offering tyre-shredding performance at family car prices.

Del’s Reliant Regal New York, Paris, Peckham; Del Boy might have exaggerated the extent of his empire, but appreciation for his Regal spans oceans. Often confused with the Reliant Robin, the Trotters’ three-wheeler was traded in by Del for a Capri Ghia – cushty! It has since found a home at the Beaulieu Motor Museum.

Starsky’s Ford Gran Torino A seventies icon, the Ford Gran Torino was immortalised by legendary cop show Starsky & Hutch. Screeching around the fictional Bay City, the Torino’s famous red and white livery sparked copycat paintjobs around the world.

Bond’s Lotus Submarine Used by 007 in The Spy Who Loved Me, the amphibious Lotus has twice been voted the nation’s favourite on-screen vehicle.

With wheel arches that turn into fins and a periscope on the roof, it enabled our favourite spy to navigate the depths of the ocean.

It’s currently on display at Beaulieu Motor Museum.

Herbie the Beetle The star of several Disney films, which began with The Love Bug in 1968, this Volkswagen Beetle was a bit of a moody motor and able to drive himself. Saved from the scrapyard he went onto win many a race. KITT from Knightrider Another famous Pontiac, this Trans Am was a later model driven by Michael Knight, a microphone-haired crime fighter played by the Hoff.

Dubbed KITT, the car could talk, drive itself and had a turbo boost to evade trouble.

DeLorean from Back to the Future Manufactured in Northern Ireland for the American sports car market, the DeLorean was a commercial disaster.

Not even the starring role (as a time travelling machine) in Back to the Future could boost sales and in the end the DeLorean Car Company were forced to fold.

A faithful restoration of the Back to the Future DeLorean, with its stainless steel body and gullwing doors can be found at Beaulieu Motor Museum.

Bond and Chitty Chitty

IAN Fleming is best known for the James Bond spy series, but the Swanage educated author was also behind the children’s book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, which inspired the subsequent film starring Dick Van Dyke.

Born in London, Fleming moved to Langton Matravers near Swanage to attend Durnford School.

He then moved onto Sunningdale College, Eton and worked as a journalist before going into naval intelligence during World War Two.

It was during this time he found the inspiration for his spy novels, the first of which, Casino Royale, was published in 1953.