JAMES BOND LOTUS ESPRIT OUTSTANDING CAR FROM CORGI

The James Bond Lotus Esprit by Corgi is an outstanding car. As seen in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, this car stands as on of the most innovative vehicles since the Aston Martin DB5. This is one of the classic James Bond cars of the cinema.

The Spy Who Loved Me, released in 1977, is the 10th film in the James Bond series and the third to star Roger Moore as MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and the screenplay was written by Christopher Wood and Richard Maibaum. The film takes its title from the tenth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. Following a request by Ian Fleming when he sold the rights to the series that only the title of the novel be used, it is the first Bond film to be written with a wholly original plot line in its screenplay. The storyline involves a reclusive megalomaniac named Stromberg who plans to destroy the world and create a new civilization under the sea. Bond teams up with a Russian agent Anya Amasova to stop Stromberg.

Throughout the James Bond series of films Q Branch has given Bond a wide variety of vehicles with which to battle his enemies. Among the most noteworthy gadgets Bond has been equipped with have been various vehicles that have numerous modifications to include weapons systems, anti-pursuit systems, alternate transportation modes, and various other functions.

This is actual white Esprit S1 used in the famous chase sequence in The Spy Who Loved Me. It evades the lovely Caroline Munro in her helicopter by driving off a pier and then converting into a submarine, complete with mines and rockets to get rid of any unwanted attention. This is a very early car and was purchased directly from Lotus Cars in 1998

The Lotus Esprit and its underwater exploits are second only to the DB5 in the Bond car hall of fame. To escape a rocket-equipped helicopter Bond (now played for laughs by the bouffant-ed Roger Moore) drives the Esprit off a pier into the sea, where it transforms into a submarine at the flick of a switch and blows up the helicopter with its own rockets. More underwater action ensues, until Bond emerges victorious on a beach full of holidaymakers. Six cars were used to film this sequence, one of which was a working submarine with two divers