The famous submarine car from the James Bond film 'The Spy Who Loved Me' is set to go on sale later this year.
The model, a Lotus Esprit Series 1, was driven by Roger Moore and will be put up for auction at London's Battersea Park in September. It was the only version of the vehicle that was built to be a fully operational submarine – six others were built for shooting the different stages of transformation from car to submarine.
In today’s money it was thought to cost over £300,000 to design and build.
After its use in the 1977 film the car was kept in a Long Island storage unit for a decade, according to RM Auctions. It ended up in the hands of a couple who purchased its container in 1989 with no idea of the contents.
Reportedly the submarine was very difficult to handle and had to be operated by a former Navy SEAL in the film who was wearing a scuba mask due to the cabin not being pressurised.
Consequently it is unlikely the model will be taken back underwater by its new buyer.
Whoever does end up coming away with it from auction may well have to stump up a sizeable fee considering recent sales of other Bond memorabilia; swimming trunks worn by Daniel Craig in Casino Royale were sold last year for £44,450, while an Aston Martin DB5 used in Goldfinger and Thunderball fetched £3m. Additionally, the pistol held by Sean Connery in the From Russia With Love poster sold for £290,000.
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