ATV History Lesson: The James Bond Connection

The one that started it all.

Would it surprise you to learn that the ATV industry owes a debt of gratitude to a James Bond movie of all things? To appreciate this interesting origin story, we have to travel in time all the way back to 1970. ATVs did exist prior but they weren’t what we think of these days. In fact, these days we label what was on the market as AATVs – Amphibious All Terrain Vehicles. Typically set up with 6 and 8-wheel configurations, these machines were operated with twin sticks (dozer style) and were designed to operate on both land and water.

Honda saw a space in the market between motorcycles, snowmobiles and AATVs and built a small-bore platform (90cc) sporting 3 balloony tires, motorcycle-style controls and imported it to the US in 1970 for the very reasonable asking price of $595.

The US90, as it was known, generated a small stir but the real endorsement would come the following year in the form of the James Bond feature film Diamonds Are Forever starring Sean Connery in the titular role.

In one particular scene lasting all of four minutes, Bond commandeers a US90 as a part of an intense escape sequence, then proceeds to shred the desert on it en route to Tiffany Case and her Mustang Mach 1.

The viewing public noticed and were even more surprised to learn that this interesting little vehicle didn’t only actually exist and could be purchased by anyone, it was affordably priced to boot. The 3-wheeler craze had been born overnight.

Honda produced the US90 until 1973 at which point it was tweaked slightly and wore a freshly trademarked moniker – ATC90 (All Terrain Cycle). The ATC designation would remain for the entirety of Honda’s 3-wheeler production run (ending in 1988).

As for the actual screen used 90s – it is said Honda supplied a total of 5 of them for the sequence and, when shooting concluded, 4 were returned to be destroyed by Honda (sadly). The one Connery rode was saved, however and still makes it way from collector to collector to this very day.

We found the entire film sequence featuring the Honda US90 here: