Submarine Esprit - Tesla to build the real thing

Submarine Esprit - Tesla to build the real thing

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Hedgerley

Original Poster:

620 posts

267 months

Thursday 12th June 2014
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As previously reported, Elon Musk acquired the full-size underwater Esprit at auction last year and it was rumoured he would be adding the Tesla drivetrain and making it work for real.

Herewith an update from this week's Autocar (in a piece about his planning for a UK Tesla R&D base which will create several hundred new jobs)

[i]"Musk, who has recently purchased the Lotus Esprit submarine model featured in the James Bond film 'The Spy Who Loved Me', also said he plans to create something similar that works.

Musk said 'It's a low priority project but we can create a transformation amphibious vehicle using Model S electrics. It will look like the Esprit too, but will be 10 percent bigger and we'll make it in single digit numbers"[/i]

So, it appears he won't be 'converting' the actual film car, which is good, but using it as a template for a modern equivalent that I assume will go on sale. So we will have a classic Esprit shape, but a bit bigger with the performance of the Model S on the road and the ability to go sub-aqua properly. The first part of that sentence intrigues me greatly!

The PR and marketing opportunity will be huge. I wonder if Lotus will get in on the act?