James Bond's Submarine Car Surfaces on Long Island

John Mitty Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Back in 1989, a Long Island contractor spent $100 to purchase the contents of a storage container, without knowing what was in it.  Inside the storage container, he discovered a wheel-less sports car with a dented roof.  He had no idea that the Lotus Esprit was the submarine car James Bond used in the film “The Spy Who Loved Me.” 

According to Doug Redenius, co-founder of the Ian Fleming Foundation, the car’s present owner (who opted to remain anonymous) had no clue what he had.  The construction contractor had never seen a James Bond film and only discovered what he had when other truckers who saw him driving off with it told him to rent the movie.  The owner still didn’t realize he had something of monetary worth.  Redenius heard rumors that the car had been discovered, and searched him out years later.  After authenticating the car, Redenius connected the owner to RM Auctions, which will sell the car in London on September 9^th.  It is expected to go for as much as $1 million.  How the car came to be in the storage unit in the first place is still something of a mystery.  Presumably a studio or production company put it there and stopped paying the bills on the storage unit.  And now, the car is likely going to make a humble construction contractor rich. 

jmitty@longislandyellowpages.com

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