Tesla’s Elon Musk buys James Bond Lotus submarine-car

The famous car-turned-submarine Lotus Esprit used by James Bond in the 007 classic ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ was sold at auction last month for over £500,000 – but who was the secret buyer?

The name is Musk, Elon Musk. That’s right, the co-founder and CEO of Tesla Motors was the mysterious bidder who now owns a sought-after automotive piece of film industry.

This week, a Tesla Motors spokesperson confirmed that the white Lotus-looking submarine was bought by Musk, who now plans to turn the movie prop into an actual car that is able to transform into a submarine – as it does in the film.

In the statement provided by Tesla, Musk said: “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.”

In the movie: ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’, James Bond, who was portrayed by the legendary Roger Moore, drives a white Lotus Esprit off a pier and into the water, where it turns into a submarine and astounded audiences everywhere.

We can’t deny that we’re not disappointed to be the owners of this iconic model, but we can’t wait to see what Elon Musk and his creative flair does to the prop.

Source and more pictures: https://motortorque.org/articles/teslas-elon-musk-buys-james-bond-lotus-submarine-car