One of the best-known automotive gadgets in the James Bond 007 cinematic universe is the submersible Lotus Esprit. The original Aston Martin DB5, which featured guns, tire-shredding knock-off hubs, bullet-proofing, and an ejector seat, was such a difficult thing to follow up that Roger Moore’s Bond really needed a memorable hero car for The Spy Who Loved Me.
And the freshly unveiled Lotus Esprit S1 was just the ticket. All wedge shape with a flat windshield and ground-hugging design, it was a real head-turner even in stock form in the late 1970s. For the iconic scene where it jumps off the end of a pier, hides its wheels inside its bodywork, and transforms into a torpedo-shooting submarine, Lotus provided seven bodyshells on top of the two driving cars that featured in the preceding helicopter chase. One of these was built into a functional submarine car, which reportedly was piloted by two stuntmen in scuba gear. That car was auctioned by RM Sotheby’s in 2013 and was said to have been bought by Elon Musk for $866,000.
Spacer
The history of the rest of the bodyshells is spotty at best. One is said to have been destroyed during filming, but the shells used to show off the hidden wheels and the periscope are lost in time. Despite the scenes being set in Italy, the filming of these underwater stunts took place in the Bahamas; a scrap metal company supplied the cranes to lift the equipment and props in and out of the water. For his trouble, the scrap metal company boss was gifted two Esprit shells, one of which is the car being auctioned in Monaco this month.
Having sat outside at the scrapyard for over a decade, the Esprit was bought by an Italian collector in 1988. With help from Lotus, including photographs and technical information, the shell was rebuilt into the specification in which it stands today, complete with the steering fins and propellers that it likely originally lacked. Coys auctioned it in Monaco in 2007, and it was bought by a Finnish entrepreneur, Jorma Lillbacka, who also owns the PowerPark fairground in Southern Ostrobothnia.
Mäkelä Auto Tuning, a well-known rally car restoration business that sourced the car from Monaco, also restored the car at that point and built a movable display stand for it. The Lotus went on display at Lillbacka’s shopping mall near PowerPark, where it remained for years. I managed to take a photo of it in 2015, and because this was 2015, I slapped all of the world’s Instagram filters on it.
Now, the Esprit is again back in Monaco, and again up for auction. MAT has done more recent work on it to bring it to showroom condition; inside, it’s the bare Esprit bodyshell that shows its movie prop history, with no interior or engine. Weighing around 800lbs, it’s lighter than a complete Lotus but likely still takes a careful push to wheel around any garage, shopping mall or living room.
That brings us to the question: what car would you display in your living room, as a static object?
I’ve often said the DeLorean is the sort of car that might be best on display instead of being daily driven, thanks to its various build quality challenges and meager power output, but the tangentially related Lotus Esprit is certainly a good alternative. This particular Esprit is expected to bring 200,000 to 300,000 Euros, or up to $345k; there are cheaper plastic-bodied cars you can bolt on a stand and admire from your couch.
Top graphic images: DepositPhotos.com; RM Sotheby’s
A Cord 810 or 812. Not that I wouldn’t want to drive it–I just don’t feel up to the challenge of keeping it in driveable condition, and it still looks gorgeous standing still.
I do have one of those engine-block coffee tables. I had it made several years ago. The block appears to be a 90s GM LT1, and it’s on custom mounts with caster wheels.
As far as a car I’d want in my living room…probably an early Jaguar XJ-S. Especially because the hood is reverse-hinged, and I think you could have some fun with that.
If not that, then something geometric and styled by Guigiaro, like the Esprit (albeit probably not the 007 one, since it’d be out of my price range!)
Either a Nissan Figaro, or an early NA Miata in French Blue.
If I had the room… Citroen DS.
Yeah, but which one?
http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2013/02/ds-on-display.html
Not that it would fit, but my choice would be:
A 1970 Chevrolet El Camino SS454 LS6.
https://stories.hemmings.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/origin-17688.jpg
https://driveshare.com/files/car_images/13000/1718004031_php6666a93faf001.jpg.full.jpg?t=1718004032
I would like to put a Smart Fortwo Cabriolet in my home theater room. I would install a great Dolby Atmos sound system, and have my own little Drive-In!
Well I rather it be on display in a garbage but either a 78 or 67-68 firebird
Garbage??
Most beautiful car ever made, 1959 Stingray Racer
A Messerschmitt KR200.
It looks goofy to our modern eyes, kids would have a blast playing in it, and it is fun to say “Messerschmitt.”
I would want a car that didn’t have the ability to drive like the sub car. So, maybe the Tim burton era bat mobile or a Mach 5. If it has to be a real car, Citroen DS19.
1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale
A Subaru 360 would have been perfect for my kids to play around in back when they were little. Of course now my kids are too old for that, so maybe a Bugeye Sprite that I can play around and make vroom-vroom noise in!
2 door range rover classic, in some heritage color like Bahama yellow, pastel green, or marine blue.
Gotta be a canvas-topped 2CV. I can think of furniture arrangements where its occupants could not only join in conversation but watch something on the tube, in relative comfort.
David Tracy: “Does a transmission in the dishwasher and engine on the dining room table count?”
Edit: We love you David, that’s why we tease.
That’s an interesting thing to consider. A few years ago, I challenged myself to choose my very own automobile calendar. I couldn’t do it, so I did two: Cars that I’d consider owning, and cars that I just like looking at. It was still REALLY tough!
I’ve always been a fan of the Auburn 851 and the ’55-56 T-birds, but don’t want to own either. I think a Countach (no wing) with selective drink coasters would be my choice. The low roofline would work well inside a room. I’d look at a 288 GTO before making any decisions, though. That car always had near perfect proportions to my eyes. (Yes, my choices betray my age a bit.)
Years ago I read about one of the original purchasers of a Ferrari F40 buying it to use as the centerpiece of his living room. There were no plans for a means of getting it in and out – the wall was just going to be sealed up after installation.
At the time I thought it was a crying shame. All these years later, I think I kinda dig it.
A Ford GT/GT40 of any generation would be nice, too. (Checks bank account…) Then again, perhaps not.
Money no object? The Saoutchik-designed 1949 Delahaye 175 S Roadster
On my actual budget? A Fiat/Bertone X1/9, in an Alitalia livery. Intentionally drained of all fluids prior to display, of course, lest it drain its fluids unintentionally across my living room floor at an inopportune time.
Today, I learned that this car exists. I applaud your choice.
Since my living Room is on the second level, probably a new production Peel P50 Cabrio.
You presume I don’t already have a car in my living room…
I am in the embarassing position that makes this unfunny. I have a fully functional chassis and drive train in a room once known as a living room now known as the room where dreams die room. The car is………………………… Not yet a car, but one day (40years and counting) it will be a nice car.
Yes it is a puzzle, but I will leave breadcrumbs.
It has a V12 engine
It was built by an Italian/Swiss consortium
Marc Birkigt designed the mechanical bits
All it needs is bodywork,and money lots of both.
As a bare chassis it drives nicely.