The unusual reason why Elon Musk paid $1 million for this car that a couple bought for $100

The Lotus Esprit did not seem to be an exceptional shot. It is the car used by James Bond in the 1977 film “The Spy Who Loved Me”, and which earned its place as a cinematographic icon when it allowed agent 007 to escape in the middle of the film’s most critical chase, submerging completely in water.

The truth is that, although the Wet Nellie -his fictitious name- had earned his Hollywood famein real life he was still a false amphibian. The roll never really submerged; the underwater shots were taken with a scale model in the Bahamas, and Alka-Seltzer tablets were used to create the generated bubbles.

And so 12 years passed from the premiere of the film with no news of Wet Nellie, until in 1989 a couple from Long Island bought a closed lot for US$100 and -like when you walk without looking knowing that you are going to find- the car “Bulletproof” appeared inside. It was without wheels, punished by the years, and the duo was not a movie buff; so they called a tow truck and, paradoxically, this was the climax of the story.

Both the driver and some other truckers who watched the show through their windows recognized the old movie star. It was then that they began to contemplate a possible businessand decided restore car, to be able to sell it for a good number. The auction was held by RM Sotheby’s in 2013, and the Wet Nellie was delivered to an enigmatic buyer who paid $997,000 for him. This is the second twist in the story: the new owner turned out to be nothing more and nothing less than Elon Musk.

It happens that the CEO of Tesla is one of the many long-standing fans of the saga 007. “When I was a little boy in South Africa it was incredible to see James Bond throw his Lotus Esprit off a dock, press a button and transform it into a submarine”, he said when he made his purchase official with the public.

In fact, he would later reveal that the cyber truck it is, at some point, an updated and oversized version of Bond’s Lotus. According to the tycoon, the futuristic lines of the british model They served as a source of inspiration to shape the electric pickupone of Tesla’s most promoted products.

Although he was disappointed to learn that, indeed, the grounder could not transform into submarine with a single buttonMusk took the matter to heart, as a kind of personal challenge, and turned his frustration into an innovation project. “I’m going to upgrade it with an electric powertrain and try to really transform it.” ad.

Ultimately, Musk’s idea is transform the fake amphibian into an operational and functional submersible. Considering that the air-fueled heat engines do not work underwaterand that all submarines are electricwith motors powered by batteries that are charged with a heat engine plant, it stands to reason that Tesla is going to take advantage of the hobby of an entrepreneur with the adventures of agent 007, to venture into the potential world of electric motors that work in water and Earth.