James Bond’s “The Spy who loved me” submarine car is up for sale

The “submarine car” James Bond used in the movie “The Spy Who Loved Me” is on sale in London on Monday, 24 years after it was “found” in a U.S. storage unit. The white Lotus Esprit, which was converted into a submarine during a sequel in the 1977 movie starring Roger Moore as 007, is estimated to sell for up to 950,000 pounds ($1.48 million). Known as “Wet Nellie” on the set of the film, the fully operational submarine car was among the contents of a storage unit in Long Island, New York which was bought by a couple in a “blind” public auction in 1989. Although six Esprit body shells were used in filming, only one was converted into a “submarine car”, RM Auctions said. The car was placed in a pre-paid storage unit for 10 years after filming. The contents of storage unit were sold sight unseen in 1989 when rental payments for the unit fell into delinquency. “We have a great track record in selling incredible and iconic movie cars, and this particular Lotus is certainly up there amongst the most famous cars of all time,” RM Managing Director Max Girardo said in a statement. The auction house previously sold the Aston Martin DB5 used by Sean Connery as James Bond in the “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball” movies for 2.9 million pounds in 2010.