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Was the Lotus Esprit too good for James Bond?
Was the Lotus Esprit too good for James Bond?
In 1976 Bond left Aston Martin behind and got a new tricked out Lotus Esprit, but was the cars over the top handling capabilities a little too good for Bond?
The 2nd Unit production crew was almost ready to give up on the car because it looked too smooth on film. The handling was too good and the car didn’t appear to be going “fast enough”. Fortunately, Lotus Cars had Roger Becker on the set. Roger, a Lotus executive, was able to take over the stunt driving and push the car to it’s limits. The result was some of the best car chase scenes on film.
Of course if you’re a Bond fan, you know that the Lotus Esprit S-1 had another great feature. The submarine conversion kit didn’t come standard but was indeed a special “Q” gadget.
The scene called for stunt drivers to pilot the water filled vehicle while underwater film crews captured the floating movement.
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