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James Bond Cars - Lotus Esprit. |
"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,
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.
* * * * *
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.
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Sidecar Suicide
1 - Rocket powered sidecar bomb.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Watching the wheels ![]()
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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.
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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.
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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).
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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.
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Limpet mines
1 - Mechanism loaded mines into dispenser,
2 - Mine magazine,
3 - Mine dispenser,
4 - Mine.
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
[Bond Cars:]
[Aston Martin DB5]
[Aston Martin V8]
[BMW-750iL]
[BMW-Z]
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