20 Things You Didn't Know About Diamonds Are Forever (1971)
4. Zipping Down The Strip
Guy Hamilton hated American cars and enjoyed filming the sequence in which James Bond outruns the Las Vegas Police Department in Tiffany Case’s red Mustang Mach 1, wrecking the police cruisers pursuing him in the process. The Ford Motor Company agreed to this on the condition that Sean Connery be shown driving the Mustang Mach for product placement purposes.
However, Bond’s final escape from the police was troublesome. Memorably, the Double-0 agent balances the car on two wheels to squeeze through an alleyway, whilst the police car chasing him crashes during its attempt to do likewise.
The Mustang’s entry into the alleyway was filmed at Universal City Studios’ car park in California, but the car exited the alleyway onto Fremont Street in Las Vegas on the opposite two wheels. By the time this was realised, it was not possible to go back and reshoot the scene, so linking footage was shot at Pinewood Studios of Bond and Tiffany inside the car as it flips onto the other two wheels, even though this would be impossible in such a confined space.