James Bond Cars - Lotus Esprit.

Comment to our musical score

     "The automobile-submarine" Lotus Esprit from movie "The Spy Who Loved Me" was white. So the Beatles' song "Yellow submarine", what sounds now, isn't to the place perfecrly. When we shall find a midi-file with the music to the song "The Aweary Submarine", we will insert it into the Page immediately. Here are the words from this song:

                                           It is quiet night at our pier,
                                           It's known just to you, my dear,
                                           When my aweary submarine
                                           Go home from bosom of the sea.

     The villainess Naomi evidently did know about the plans of Bond's submarine - elsewise she wouldn't fly above sea, sitting in her helicopter, and wouldn't be attacked by rockets out of water.

     A.T.

* * * * *

      We perform here a fragment from the book "James Bond. The Secret World of 007",which tells about adventures of "Lotus" by land and by sea. The Bondiana's specialists, certainly remember, that it was Roger Moore, who drove this unusual car. Roger was the champion among the actors - he played the Bond role more long than the others. Read the article about the reasons of this actor's great popularity in our X-files, on special Page!

Wet Nellie

      For The Spy who loved me mission, Q supplied 007 with a Lotus Esprit - one of the most remarkable vehicles ever entrusted to Bond's tender care. In addition to various "standard-issue" weapons, at the flick of a switch the wheels withdrew and the car converted into a submarine. Nicknamed "Wet Nellie" by MI6, the Lotus Esprit was ideal for an undersea reconnaissance of Stromberg's off-shore laboratory, Atlantis.

Sidecar Suicide

      1 - Rocket powered sidecar bomb.

      Attracted by a motorcyclist with a sidecar bomb, the wide-tyred Lotus Esprit displayed its superb handling. The sidecar missed, hitting a lorry and rider went over a cliff.

Taking the Plunge

      Pursued by a helicopter firing machine guns, Bond drove off a jetty straight into the Mediterranean. In a matter of moments, the car became a submarine - and the hunted became the hunter.

Air defence

      To protect against aircraft attack, the Lotus possessed radar guided surface-to-air missiles, which fired upward from an emplacement in the rear hatch.

      1 - Circular values allow missiles to be fired underwater, 2 - Missile assembly with four launchers.

Power-packed

      The Lotus's elegant bonnet housed a battery of four undersea, heat-seeking missile launchers. Missiles could be fired individually or together. The middle two contained stun grenades, the right-hand two, explosive warheads. Two harpoons attached to 50 metres (164 ft) of cable completed the battery.

      1 - Harpoon, 2 - Cable reel, 3 - Missile, 4 - Battery reloaded when missile battery closed, 5 - Missile battery flipped up to fire.

Watching the wheels

      1 - Wheel retractor mechanism, 2 - Wheel swung upwards.

      For submarine mode, the front wheel retractor mechanism disconnected the steering, and the rear-wheel mechanism disconnected the engine transmission. The front and rear wheels swung upwards through 90 degrees and withdrew into the body.

      1 - Wheel-arch fully locked, 2 - Hydroplane, 3 - Hydroplane activator slid hydroplanes, through wheel-arch doors, when wheels were fully withdrawnand wheel-arch doors had locked.

Diving Down

      Wet Nellie's body was a single, glass-fibre shell, lightweight, durable, and most important, watertight. The craft could dive to a depth of 100 metres (328 ft). Its tanks had two hour's supply of air.

Rear Trust

      The Lotus's rear bumper extended and a battery of four propellers, working off an auxiliary electric motor in the boot, appeared. These provided up to 16 knots of thrust underwater. The sub had a range of some 48 km (30 miles).

      1 - Rear Hydroplane, 2 - Rudders, 3 - Rudder engaged when bumper extended, 4 - Propeller assembly locked in place.

Blinding Pursuers

      1 - Pump squirted cement and water at high pressure, 2 - Mud reservoir, 3 - Ink reservoir, 4 - Ink jet, 5 - Cement jet, 6 - Lowered number plate.

      For land use two telescopic rear-firing jets behind the rear number plate sprayed liquid cement over am enemy car's windscreen, totally obscuring visibility. For underwater defence, two central jets dispensed ink to blind pursuing craft.

Limpet mines

      1 - Mechanism loaded mines into dispenser, 2 - Mine magazine, 3 - Mine dispenser, 4 - Mine.

      For defence against an enemy submarine, Wet Nellie had a mine launcher underneath the hull. 007's partner KGB agent Anya Amasova, launched a mine to destroy one of Stromberg's mini-subs.

Back on the Beach

      Having sprung a leak during an underwater tussle with Stromberg's forces the Lotus reverted to land mode and emerged from the waves - to amazement of tourists.

LOTUS ESPRIT SPECIFICATION

Max speed:                    138 mph, 221 km/h
Acceleration:                 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 6,8 sec.
Engine                             2-litre, 16-valve, four cylinder
Length:                           13 ft 9 in (419,1 sm)
Width:                              6 ft 1 in (185 sm)
Engine capacity:           1,973 cc

      COPYRIGHT 2000-2001, "James Bond. The Secret World of 007".

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