James Bond's Lotus submarine car goes under the hammer

James Bond fans with a spare £950,000 have the chance to get their hands on the submarine car used in The Spy Who Loved Me as it comes up for auction for the first time ever.

 One of the most famous cars of all time, the Lotus Esprit, specially designed for the 1977 film featuring Roger Moore as 007, is said to be still fully operational underwater.

It is expected to fetch between £650,000 and £950,000 when it goes under the hammer at RM Auctions in Battersea, south London today.

The record price for an ex-Bond car – also sold through RM Auctions – was set in 2010, when the Aston Martin DB5 used in Goldfinger sold for £2.9 million.

Raymond Benson, author of seven “official” posthumous Bond books, said: “I never used an underwater car in any of my Bond novels, but the Lotus in the film is one of my favourite vehicles in the 007 universe!”

Although six Esprit bodyshells were used in filming, only one was converted to a fully operational submarine car. The work was carried out by Perry Oceanographic, a company based in Riviera Beach, Florida, and was reported to have cost more than $100,000 dollars.  READ MORE