Smart ' s Sunbeam

For Warner Bros. upcoming new " Get Smart " movie, due in theaters June 20, director Peter Segal drew his inspiration for the film ' s star car - - a Sunbeam Tiger - - from the original TV series starring Don Adams. Only it ' s not quite a Tiger.
Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart in Warner Bros. Pictures ' and Village Roadshow Pictures ' action comedy " Get Smart, " distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin. Photo by Tracy Bennett

" It ' s supposed to be a Sunbeam Tiger, but we couldn ' t find a Tiger up in Canada where we were filming, " says Segal, who recently gave us the behind - the - scenes scoop on the " Smart " car. " So we found a Sunbeam Alpine, which is I believe the four - cylinder version of what ' s normally the eight - cylinder Tiger. They ' re very rare now. "

Segal says they were able to get decals from a manufacturer in England to turn the 1966 Sunbeam Alpine into a Tiger. The Tiger was built by the now - defunct Rootes Group in the UK and was powered by a Ford - sourced V - 8. Just over 7000 Tigers were built between 1964 and 1967.

" So unless you lifted up the hood, you would not be able to tell the difference, " Segal says. " It ' s an exact replica. To the lay person, to the naked eye it will look like a Tiger because that ' s what the show had. Purists will know. The Alpine and the Tiger are the exact same except for the engine. "

" Steve Carell told me he bumped into Jay Leno once and they were talking about cars, " Segal continues. " Jay said the thing about the Sunbeam Tigers is they were squirrelly because they were small, narrow, and it was too much engine for the car. They said a V - 8 in that little car was dangerous. And that ' s why it would be safer to drive an Alpine, but that ' s what people loved about it. "

The movie, which is set in 2008, stars Carell as Maxwell Smart, Alan Arkin as the Chief, Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23, and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99. Smart is on a mission to thwart the latest plot for world domination by evil crime syndicate KAOS.

Other vehicles featured in the original TV show also make their comeback in the movie.

" The show had four different cars in it, " Segal says. " There was a Ferrari used in the pilot, which was the only black - and - white episode. The Sunbeam Tiger to ' Get Smart ' was the same as the Aston Martin was to James Bond. But they also had a convertible Karmann Ghia, a blue one, and a gold Opel GT, and we were able to get all three of those. "
Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart in Warner Bros. Pictures ' and Village Roadshow Pictures ' action comedy " Get Smart, " distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin. Photo by Tracy Bennett

The three other cars make a brief appearance, but the Sunbeam steals the show. In the movie, there ' s one scene where the car sits behind ropes in what ' s supposed to be a Smithsonian museum exhibit.

" The way we showcased it is how we situated CONTROL. CONTROL was always underground because obviously Maxwell Smart went down the stairs and then through all the doors, so we decided to situate it under the Smithsonian, " Segal says.

" So there was an exhibit, where we start off the movie by saying, ' This is all that remains of CONTROL, a secret spy organization that battled the evil forces of KAOS during the cold war and then it was disbanded, ' " Segal goes on. " Then you realize that, no, it ' s still going, that was its front. But in that display we were able to put the Sunbeam Tiger behind velvet ropes, with the shoe phone and a few of the other gadgets. "

Segal says they found out later the shoe phone and props from the TV series were actually at the Smithsonian. " But that was just art imitating life or vice versa. "
Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart in Warner Bros. Pictures ' and Village Roadshow Pictures ' action comedy " Get Smart, " distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin. Photo by Tracy Bennett

The Sunbeam became such an iconic vehicle from the TV show, in addition to the famous shoe phone, that Segal claims they had to find a way to incorporate them into the movie.

" People so want to see the shoe phone and the Sunbeam Tiger and many of the other gadgets, " Segal says. " How could we do that? We thought, okay, well, it ' s a contemporary story but all of those things were in mothballs in a museum. At some point in the story, Max needs to borrow a few items. He has to borrow them in a pinch and I won ' t tell you what the pinch is. You ' ll see soon enough. "

Segal added that in trying to keep with the TV series, he has a friend who is an editor and a big " Get Smart " fan who has a mint condition Sunbeam Tiger in Los Angeles that had a replica of a machine gun that raises up out of the hood, and they recorded the engine sound off her car, to stay as close to the original car as possible.

The movie needed two Sunbeams because one was used for a stunt. " And by the way, it ' s still in very good condition, " Segal adds. " It has hardly had any damage. But it was a bit of beater before we got it. "