Wheels: James Bond’s Submersible Lotus Resurfaces

RM Auctions The Lotus Esprit built for “The Spy Who Loved Me” cost about $100,000 to build, more than $400,000 today.

James Bond’s gadget-laden, amphibious Lotus Esprit, from the 1977 film “The Spy Who Loved Me,” is about to enter the public eye after years in seclusion. RM Auctions will offer the submersible car for sale at its Battersea Park sale in London on Sept. 9.

“This particular Lotus is certainly up there amongst the most famous cars of all time,” said Max Girardo, RM’s managing director in Europe, in an e-mail. “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.”

RM is gaining something of a reputation for selling iconic movie cars, especially those of 007. At a 2010 sale in London, the auction house offered a Aston Martin DB5 seen in “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball” – it brought a then-record $4.4 million. At the same sale, Don Rose, an RM valuation specialist, sold his personal Aston Martin, which would later, serendipitously, become the Aston Martin used in “Skyfall.”

The Lotus, when driven into the water, transforms into a submarine. Yes, it really does, in real life. RM says the vehicle is “the one and only fully functioning car especially designed and built for the famous underwater sequence.” RM also warrants that the auction vehicle has been “abundantly authenticated.”

RM said that the car was known on the set as Wet Nellie and was one of six Esprit body shells used in the film. It differs from the rest in that it was the only car to be built into a fully operational, self-propelled submersible – at a cost of about $100,000 (more than $400,000 in current dollars) – by Perry Oceanographic of Riviera Beach, Fla.

RM Auctions The Bond Lotus is a functional submarine.

Mr. Girardo said that the aqua-Lotus was driven in the film by Don Griffin, a retired Navy SEAL. Mr. Griffin, a test pilot for Perry, has been quoted as explaining that the vehicle was operated by using its motorized propellers and levered steering mechanisms. Its underwater scenes were filmed in the Atlantic Ocean, just off the Bahamas.

After filming wrapped, said Mr. Girardo, the vehicle was consigned to a container in a storage center on Long Island, N.Y., where it sat until its prepaid, 10-year rental ran out in 1989. Apparently forgotten by the filmmakers, the storage company auctioned the storage unit’s contents – sight unseen – at a public auction. The lucky high bidders, a local couple, were shocked to find during an appraisal the odd vehicle in the unit was actually the Lotus from the Bond movie.

Rarely shown since then, it has remained out of limelight. Aside from the storage unit auction, Mr. Girardo said, the car has never been offered for sale.

“It’s an amazing story,” he said. “Lost and found.”

RM Auctions James Bond’s submarine car will go up for auction in September.

This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: July 8, 2013

A previous version of this post misstated the original cost of the submersible Lotus. The expense would be more than $400,000 today, not in 1976 dollars.