Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang: The Magical Car is a children's novel written by Ian Fleming for his son Caspar, with illustrations by John Burningham. It was initially published in three volumes, the first of which was released on 22 October 1964 by Jonathan Cape in London. Fleming, better known as the creator of James Bond, took his inspiration for the subject from a series of aero-engined racing cars called "Chitty Bang Bang", built by Count Louis Zborowski in the early 1920s at Higham Park. Fleming had known Higham Park as a guest of its later owner, Walter Wigham, chairman of Robert Fleming
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang two months after his death. "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang" was first published in the UK in three hard-backed volumes by Jonathan Cape, each costing 10s. 6d. The first volume was launched on Thursday, 22 October 1964, the second on 26 November 1964 and the third on 14 January 1965. In July 1968, the three volumes were released in one single volume by Pan Books. Alexander Muir, in the "Daily Mirror", considered that the first two volumes of "Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang", "would make wonderful Christmas presents for everybody's young ones", declaring that they were "thrilling cliff-hanger adventures". Writing in "The Guardian", John Rowe Townsend was damning