James Bond Lotus Esprit submarine sportscar bobs up for auction
He may have been the worst Bond, but when Roger Moore emerged from the waves in his deep-sea diving Lotus Esprit submarine car, few could argue that he hadn’t bagged himself the best Bond gadget ever.
Now, if you’ve a spare £950,000 burning a hole in your pocket, you can get shaken and stirred in the very same vehicle, as Bond’s underwater motor goes under the hammer today.
Said to still be in fully operational working order, it’s the exact same vehicle as featured in 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me.
It’s picked up some mileage since then, appearing at a number of car shows before being shipped to New York and being locked up in storage since being bought as a blind lot at auction in 1989.
RM Auctions in Battersea, London, will be hosting the sale.
“Over the years, millions of movie-goers have stared in awe as the Lotus transformed itself into a submarine, and now, perhaps one of them will have an opportunity to own it,” said Max Girardo, the auction house’s MD, speaking to the BBC.
