We were thrilled here at Naijauto to find this interesting story of how US billionaire, Elon Musk paid nearly $1 million for an old sports car that a couple bought for just $100 in the year 1989.
This is the 1976 Lotus Espirit sports car that Elon Musk paid nearly ₦360 million to acquire
Reports have it that in the year 1989, a US-based couple paid around ₦3,600 ($100) in a blind auction for one unclaimed storage unit in Long Island, New York. After the auction, the couple opened up the unit and surprisingly found a 1976 Lotus Esprit model sports car lying just under some really old blankets.
What’s special about the 1976 Lotus Esprit that Elon Musk paid millions for?
Apart from being a vintage sports car, the 1976 Lotus Esprit is actually an iconic car that became popular after it was featured in a 1977 James Bond movie titled “The Spy Who Loved Me” where it famously transforms with the push of a button into a fully functional submarine that saved the life of the Hero, in an intriguing scene. Watch a short video clip of this popular scene from the movie as shared by Elon Musk himself;
Cybertruck design influenced partly by The Spy Who Loved Me https://t.co/HKBzxFNfzm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 21, 2019
In the year 2013, co-founder of Ian Fleming Foundation – Doug Redenius told the NBC News that the US couple who bought the storage unit where this antic sports car was found had never even seen a James Bond movie before and had no idea how valuable the car was.
Fortunately, the couples restored the car cosmetically and listed it up for auction after displaying it in few exhibitions. This was how Tesla CEO; Elon Musk was able to purchase this iconic sports car for a whopping $997,000 (approx. ₦360 million).
The 1976 Lotus Esprit was famously used as both a sports car and a submarine that fires missiles in the 1977 James Bond movie
When Elon Musk was being interviewed about this vintage sports car, he said;
“It was amazing as a little kid in South Africa to watch James Bond in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ drive his Lotus Esprit off a pier, press a button and have it transformed into a submarine underwater.
“I was disappointed to learn that it can’t actually transform. What I’m going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real,”
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