...time we said goodbye to an uninvited guest…
Lotus Esprit Submarine – The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)
Under helicopter gunship attack by Stromberg’s femme fatale, Naomi, Bond drives his Lotus Esprit S1 the one place she can’t follow: underwater. As KGB Major Amasova wonders what Bond plans, the Lotus transforms into a submarine. In moments, 007 fires a sea-to-air missile into Naomi’s helicopter. The rival spies are now “Alone at last.”
This privacy does not continue as a series of underwater sentries attack the Lotus when it approaches Atlantis, Stromberg’s underwater laboratory. Bond and Major Amasova (who stole the plans years earlier) take out Stromberg’s defenders using the submarine car’s gadgets and even the car itself. Unfortunately, damage to the sub forces the pair to flee to the safety of land where the Lotus drives good as new.
Lotus were so desperate to have their product featured in a James Bond movie, their marketing chief parked the brand new Lotus Esprit S1 outside EON’s production offices at Pinewood, knowing it would pique their interest. And it did. Production designer, Ken Adam felt the Esprit’s streamlined body would work beautifully when transformed into a submarine.
Lotus supplied two cars for the road one of which belonged to chairman Colin Chapman.
The Norfolk based sports car company. initially supplied special effects wizard Derek Meddings with seven empty car shells to create the various phases of the submarine transformation. One of these was utilized by Perry Submarines in Miami who fitted it a battery-operated motor. It required two scuba drivers to drive it.
The Norfolk based sports car company. initially supplied special effects wizard Derek Meddings with seven empty car shells to create the various phases of the submarine transformation. One of these was utilized by Perry Submarines in Miami who fitted it a battery-operated motor. It required two scuba drivers to drive it.
As well as full sized shells smaller models were made, employing Alka-Seltzer tablets to simulate the air bubbles.
In 1992, the Ian Fleming Foundation heard rumors that one of the full-sized shells had been spotted in the Bahamas not far from where the sequence had been filmed. Upon further investigation IFF representatives discovered it buried in overgrowth and painted cherry red. This was the shell used to shoot the missile out of the rear window louvers taking down the Stromberg helicopter hovering above water. The IFF secured the shell and returned it to Perry Submarines in Miami for full restoration.
The IFF acquired a second shell in far worse condition. This second car body, used of shots of the wheels, was not restored, and was subsequently sold to a museum in the UK.
The motorized version was discovered in a lockup years later and ultimately purchased by Tesla proprietor Elon Musk at auction for more than £600,000.
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