Elon Musk Bought Lotus Submarine Bond Car at Auction

TeslaTeslaUnited States of America, 2003 > present4 models
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Founder Elon Musk has been revealed as the secret buyer of the Lotus EspritLotus EspritUnited Kingdom, 1975 > present1 photo
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submarine from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me. At RM's London sale on September 8 and 9, it sold for £616,000.

Jalopnik confirmed that Musk was the buyer, and he responded: "It was amazing as a little kid in South Africa to watch James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me drive his Lotus Esprit off a pier, press a button and have it transform into a submarine underwater. I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform. What I'm going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real."

If you did not envy Musk before, here is a great reason to start.

The car was built for the underwater scenes in the 1977 Bond film and was one of six Esprit bodies donated by LotusLotusUnited Kingdom, 1952 > present68 models
951 photos
7 videos
to be used in the film. It is what is called a wet submarine meaning that the interior is filled with water when in use.

It still works as a fully functional, self-propelled submarine. Electric motors and batteries in a watertight compartment power the four propellers. Levers in the cockpit control the fins that maneuver the sub. 

When it was made in 1977, the car cost $100,000 to build or $384,398 in today's money. 

Source: Jalopnik