Tesla founder Elon Musk buys James Bond submarine car-reports

Multiple news sources have reported that the buyer of the James Bond ‘Spy Who Loved Me’ Lotus Esprit submarine car is none other than Tesla Motor founder and billionaire Elon Musk.

From the RM auctions press release: No Bond car has ever done anything as outrageous as transform itself into a submarine. Used to incredible effect in the film The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore, the white Lotus commonly tops the polls when generations of movie fans are asked to vote on their favorite film cars of all time. Like all the best Bond cars, the Lotus was a veritable war chest of weaponry and gadgetry, all designed to fox and foil the enemy, whilst also helping Bond to another hard-won victory for Queen and country.

The vehicle was offered by RM Auctions at its London sale in September. It is the one and only fully functioning car especially designed and built for the famous underwater sequence seen on screen in the 1977 film. Abundantly authenticated, and known as ‘Wet Nellie’ on the set, it was developed from one of six Esprit body shells used in the making of the film. As the only car to be built into a fully operational, self-propelled ‘submarine’, by Perry Oceanographic, based in Riviera Beach, Florida, it is the vehicle which claimed the most screen time in the film. The driver of the car was Don Griffin, a retired U.S. Navy SEAL and test pilot for Perry, who operated the vehicle utilizing its motorised propellers while maneuvering with levered steering mechanisms. At the time, the car was said to have cost over $100,000 to create (equivalent to nearly a half million dollars today).

Subsequent to filming the underwater scenes in the Bahamas, the vehicle was shipped to Long Island, NY, where it was kept in an unassuming storage unit on a ten year rental, paid in advance. Fate later intervened when, in 1989, the then rent delinquent unit was put up ‘blind’ for public auction. A modest winning bid from an area couple brought surprise and wonder when the blankets were removed to reveal the iconic 007 ‘Submarine’ Car. After positive authentication, the Lotus was shown occasionally – including a stint at the Petersen Automotive Museum – but mostly kept closely under wraps, until now.

The car fetched $866,000. That anonymous buyer has been revealed to be Elon Musk. Mr. Musk has apparently been enamored with the Lotus Esprit after seeing it in on the silver screen in South Africa, where he grew up. Reports have Mr. Musk stating that his goal is to produce a real transforming submarine car, based on a Tesla. The original Tesla roadster uses a Lotus chassis, that of the Elise. With a magnetic solar-powered high-speed capsule train, a commercial space venture, and conquest of Mars on his to-do list, Elon Musk has just added to his credentials for what may be his real goal: be a Bond supervillain.