31 Aug 01
The Lotus Esprit and its underwater exploits are second only to the DB5 in the Bond car hall of fame. To escape a rocket-equipped helicopter Bond (now played for laughs by the bouffant-ed Roger Moore) drives the Esprit off a pier into the sea, where it transforms into a submarine at the flick of a switch and blows up the helicopter with its own rockets. More underwater action ensues, until Bond emerges victorious on a beach full of holidaymakers. Six cars were used to film this sequence, one of which was a working submarine with two divers. A turbo Esprit also featured in For Your Eyes Only in 1981, though it was overshadowed by a heavily reinforced 2CV, and the Bond genre was in decline now anyway: the title song was belted-out by, err, Sheena Easton this time around.
