Billionaire Elon Musk bought the car submarine in the 1977 James Bond movie to make it a real "submarine-converting-car."
The CEO-CTO of SpaceX and CEO and Chief Product Architect of Tesla Motors admitted that he bought the car in an auction held in London September. The Lotus submarine car was featured in the The Spy who Loved Me film in 1977. He paid $989,000 to win the car.
Musk, in a response to an e-mail, told USA Today, "It was amazing as a little kid in South Africa to watch James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me drive his Lotus Esprit off a pier, press a button and have it transform into a submarine underwater. I was disappointed to learn that it can't actually transform. What I'm going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real."
In the 1977 James Bond Movie, Roger Moore who played the role of Agent 007, was driving a Lotus Esprit sport car along a street when it was harassed by a woman in a helicopter. Bond, who is perceived as a womanizer, did not mind his companion, a brunette beauty, and speeds the car off a pier. As the car flies to the water, the car's wheels retract and fins come out. It then becomes a submarine.
Elon Musk is known for his eccentric imaginations which he is able to push into reality. First was the invention of the Tesla Motor electric car. Just recently, his Grasshopper rocket made its highest leap of 2,440 feet and was able to return to Earth intact. He is also the man behind the "Hyperloop train,", though still in the works, claims to be 10 times faster than a bullet train.
He clarified though that James Bond car submarine coming to reality is still far from planning as it is still vague to him.
