When we write stories about things like Ferris Bueller's borrowed Ferrari or Iron Man's crushed helmet going on sale we're not really trying to point the way for potential buyers. Rather, we just think it's cool that somebody actually lives in The Dude's Bachelor pad and cruises around in the Tim Burton-era Batmobile. Props and locations like these typically sell for millions of dollars, meaning that most of us could only dream about having enough money to afford them. Know that is the angle that we are coming from when we tell you that the submersible car from the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me is going on sale.
The news comes to us from the New York Times, which says that the auction will be held in Battersea Park in London on September 9th. The car, called the Lotus Esprit, has apparently been kept out of the public eye for decades and is now being sold by RM Auctions.. It's a shame that the vehicle has been hidden for so long just because of how incredibly cool it is. While most of James Bond's gadgets were fake - results of special and visual effects - the Esprit actually can be driven underwater. According to RM, it's "the one and only fully functioning car especially designed and built for the famous underwater sequence." Max Girardo, the managing director of RM sung high praise to the newspaper in an email:
"This particular Lotus is certainly up there amongst the most famous cars of all time. Over the years, millions of moviegoers have stared in awe as the Lotus transformed itself into a submarine.” He described it as “the ultimate beach accessory."
The Spy Who Loved Me, directed by Lewis Gilbert, came out in 1977 and was one of the third film of seven in the franchise that starred Roger Moore. You can watch the famous sequence featuring the submersible car in the clip below.
I'm going to assume that the car going up for auction won't include the helicopter-exploding rocket launcher.
RM actually has some experience selling the classic cars of James Bond. In 2010 they sold the famous Aston Martin DB5 seen in Goldfinger and Thunderball for an impressive $4.4 million - a record at the time. The newspaper also points out that at that same sale one of of RM's valuation specialists, Don Rose, sold his own personal Aston Martin, and that car wound up being used by Sam Mendes and Daniel Craig for 2012's Skyfall.
You can find out more about the sale on RM's website.
