Lotus Esprit

Lotus Esprit in The Spy Who Loved Me (1977)

At the end of 1975, the newest design from the Lotus company was presented at the Earls Court Motor Show in London - the Esprit that had been created by Italian designer Giorgio Giugiaro. The car not only impressed the automotive world, but also producer Broccoli, who found a pre-series model directly in front of the Pinewood Studios in London. The car had been parked there by a Lotus manager. Don McLaughlan, a PR man from Lotus, had heard that the preparations had begun for a new 007 adventure, and he wanted to make the car available for the production. Experience with the vehicles from other films had shown that the publicity effect was enormous. The works delivered two street-legal production vehicles which were only equipped with an additional piece of sheet metal beneath the radiator to protect the cars from the rough streets of the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, where these sequences were to be filmed. Additionally, six more bodyshells were delivered, one of which was sealed for underwater scenes.

On the winding Costa Smeralda, the Lotus is chased by a black Ford Taunus and sprays cement out of four nozzles located behind the license plate in order to blind the Taunus driver. The cement, by the way, was nothing more than gray oatmeal that was squirted out of a truck that was carrying a hose device. The Taunus (which was attached to a crane in such a way that it was not visible to the camera) then flew down the embankment and landed squarely on the roof of a house. A specially installed metal slide generated the effect. Turning the Lotus into a submarine proved to be a great deal more complicated. Since the script called for Bond's car to be universally deployable, the decision was made to equip several vehicles with different functions. The company Perry Submarines of Florida transformed the vehicles:

1. When the Lotus raced from the pier into the water, the crew used compressed-air rockets to accelerate the vehicle (which was guided with steel cables) up to a speed of 70 km/h. The vehicle was manned with dummies.

2. For the miraculous transformation to a submarine, a full-sized model was used. The wheels folded to the inside, fins and a periscope came out. The scene was filmed in the Bahamas.

3. The helicopter circling the submarine was a remote-controlled mock-up. Nevertheless, for the scene that can be seen on the car's monitor, a real helicopter was hung from a crane on the pier in Sardinia. A surface-to-air missile was then fired from the submersible car of original size, and the approx. 1.50- meter model of the helicopter exploded. The movement of the Lotus under water was filmed with the original-size car. A diver hidden inside operated four battery- powered motors that allowed a maximum speed of ten knots. The film team wanted to ensure that the recordings did not include escaping air bubbles, so they performed different experiments with what are known as rebreathers (small devices that make it possible to breath underwater for a short time without making bubbles). Nevertheless, this idea was rejected because of safety considerations. The driver went back to wearing his normal diving equipment. The Lotus defended itself using torpedos, a colored smoke screen, and mines. The diver actuated the triggering elements from inside.

4. When the Lotus moved to the replica of the Atlantisunderwater station, a model that was made at a 1:4 scale was used again. At times it was remote controlled, at times it was moved along tracks that had been laid on the seabed.

5. For the unforgettable scene in which the Lotus pops up out of the water and drives onto the beach, a vehicle equipped with a marine screw propeller is pulled out of the ocean along hidden tracks. Altogether, about twenty meters of tracks were laid under water. Mechanics, technicians, stucco specialists, and carpenters worked with stucco and wood for about four months for the entire sequence. Two camera teams, one of which was under the leadership of underwater specialist Lamar Boren, were then involved for the same length of time. The stars, Barbara Bach and Roger Moore, never saw the Bahamas. They did their fighting in the sealed car in the diving pool on the grounds of Pinewood Studios in London.

Lotus Esprit cars for sale

Read this great story about how the original Lotus Submarine from the movie was recovered by Doug Redenius from the Ian Fleming Foundation: To Find A Spy(car).

In October 2013, a Lotus submarine car was sold on auction for £550.000 (€655.875 / $863.500).

A prop license plate from the The Spy Who Loved Me Lotus was auctioned at 50 Years of James Bond - The Auction at Christie's which took place online between Friday 28 September and Monday 8 October 2012. 

A Spy Who Loved Me Lotus Esprit Tribute car is offered for sale (August 2021) - read more in this article.
 

Lotus Esprit Turbo in For Your Eyes Only (1981)

For Roger Moore's fifth role, the script called for two vehicles. First, on the island of Corfu, Bond used a white Esprit Turbo. When the bad guys tried to break into it, it destroyed itself. Then, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, another Esprit Turbo, this time with a copper metallic paint, was used.

Since the two camera teams on the island of Corfu needed the car at several points of the island at the same time, two white vehicles had to be shipped there. Additionally, a chassis worth about 16,000 German marks was delivered, whereupon it was professionally blown into bits. In January 1981, the same vehicles were waiting in Cortina d'Ampezzo. They had been repainted with the copper metallic paint. The interior trim with the top-quality, brown Connolly leather remained the same. The only change was the mounting of a roof rack for two pairs of skis. The antenna had to be taken off, since it would not have been good for the shooting, and the brake lights were disconnected - after all, James Bond never brakes, he only accelerates. At temperatures down to 18 degrees Celsius below zero, the car was only to be seen in two short scenes: once during the arrival in Cortina in front of the Hotel Miramonti, then once in front of the ice stadium.

Limited Edition photo prints

Limited100 offers a very nice selection of exclusive Lotus Esprit photo prints - see these and other Bond related prints at Limited100.co.uk and get 5% off if you use the code BONDLIFE5.

Videos

Some great videos featuring the Bond Lotus Esprit can be found at Top Gear (2020 and 2021 episodes) and a well made fan video by Blair from the Bond Vivant on his YouTube Channel.