LOS ANGELES - The original hero, fully functional and road going Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car from the film of the same name, will be up for auction by Los Angeles-based auction house Profiles in History on May 15.

With the pre-sale estimate of $1 million-$2 million dollars, this is the car that has sparked the imaginations of countless children from the 1968 classic film based on James Bond author Ian Fleming’s novel, according to auction representatives.

It was built by the Ford Racing Team and designed by Ken Adam to be as real and accurate as any other car out there. No detail was spared in her creation. Built on a custom ladder frame chassis, many old world forms of car building were employed, and modern technology stepped in to created a vehicle which was both accurate enough to fool veteran and classic car experts, when held under the scrutiny of 70 mm cinema cameras, and durable enough to withstand everything from driving in sand, cobbled streets and down staircases. The bonnet is crafted of polished aluminum; the boat deck is hand-crafted of red and white cedar built by boat builders in Buckinghamshire, and the array of brass fittings were obtained from Edwardian cars. Even the alloy dashboard plate is from a British World War I fighter plane.

While not one of the mock-ups that seemed to fly or boat across the sea, this is the genuine fully-functional road car purpose built for principal shooting and is officially registered with the “GEN 11” plates as seen in the film.

In October of 2010, one of the famous 1964 Aston Martin DB5 cars used in the James Bond film Goldfinger sold for an astounding $4.5 million.

For more information, please visit www.profilesinhistory.com.