Lotus Esprit News

The iconic Aston Martin DB5 piloted by James Bond in 1964's Goldfinger has been declared the greatest movie car of all time, according to a new UK survey.

There's always a great deal of interest any time one of the cars used in a 007 movie is offered for sale. And you can probably multiply that by 59 times for the collection of Bond vehicles owned by US real estate mogul Michael Dezer.Dezer is known for  development on a grand scale: nearly the entire suburb of Chelsea in NewYork, and several massive projects in Florida including partnerships with Donald Trump for the 900 million Trump Towers, $600 million Trump Grande Ocean Resort and Residences and the $166 million Trump International Hotel and Tower.And Florida is also where he garages his collection of 1800 vehicles, including the 59 genuine Bond ones he's selling, each of which has appeared in one of the movies.The catch is that Dezer insists they be bought as one lot, for US$33 million ($37 million). But the buyer will have a fairly comprehensive sample across the Bond series.Among the 59 are a Fairey Huntress boat used in 1963's From Russia With Love and an Audi A5 and Land Rover Defender used in the most recent film, Skyfall, for the kickstarter car chase scenes.From films in between, there are a brace of Aston Martin DB5 coupes, one of which helmed by Pierce Brosnan for Goldeneye -- and the Russian T55 tank from the film. The famed Lotus Esprit S1 that morphed into a submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me is also one of star vehicles, as are the armoured and armed BMW 750iL from Tomorrow Never Dies, and the Jaguar XKR from Die Another Day.There are also more everyday wheels, including the Citroen 2CV from For Your Eyes Only, and a replica of the AMC Hornet from The Man With The Golden Gun. The collection has been on display at the Dezer Musuem in Miami, and it's likely the buyer will do something similar once the deal is done.And while it will make a little space in the Dezer garage, there are still plenty of interesting cars staying there, including the 1948 Ford from Grease,  the 1981 DeLorean from Back to the Future, the Ghostbusters 1959 Cadillac, an original Batmobile, the Lamborghini Social Experiment Project AU 79, and many, many more.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

In 2010, one of the James Bond Aston Martins from “Goldfinger” sold at auction for a jaw dropping 4.7 million dollars. Meanwhile, the Lotus Esprit submarine car driven by Sir Roger Moore in the Bond film “The Spy Who Loved Me” is scheduled to go under the hammer. It is the only working example of the six Lotus Esprits used in filming. The Esprit was shipped off to Long Island, New York when filming ended, where it was stored for 10-years in a container. After the lease on the storage unit ran out the contents were sold in a blind auction. When the couple who won the bid discovered what they had bought, they had the Lotus authenticated and now have it for sale. What's it worth? Who knows, but rest assured, someone will pay big money for it. The replica Ferrari stolen by Matthew Broderick in “Ferris Bueller's Day Off” will also go to auction soon. Expect serious money to be thrown around.  Remember the 1970s TV detective show “The Rockford Files” starring James Garner? The fictional private eye, Jim Rockford, always drove a gold Pontiac Firebird Esprit. And yep, you guessed right. There are collectors who seek out the 18 Firebirds used during the six years of the series. Garner kept one car when the series closed. In the mid-eighties he gave it to a charity auction .It was won by the proverbial little old lady. It's been through a few hands since then and now resides in Iowa. In “Back to the Future”, Michael J. Fox sped through time in a sleek DeLorean. In Dec 2011, one of the seven DeLoreans used in the trilogy fetched $540,000 at auction. The iconic Batmobile from the 1960s television show sold for $4.62 million at action earlier this year. Holy cow, Batman!! Famed car customiser George Barris built the Batmobile in 15 days with a budget of $15,000, basing it on the 1955 Lincoln Futura concept car he'd bought from Ford for $1 a few years earlier. The black Falcon coupe from the Mad Max films almost went to the blast furnace. After the second Mad Max movie it was left in an Adelaide wrecker’s yard until rescued and restored. You can now see it in the Dezer Museum, Miami, Florida. And then there are the Pontiacs used in Burt Reynolds classic “Smokey and The Bandit”. They are out there somewhere. So start looking and start saving! www.retroautos.com.au  

It is expected to fetch between $230,000 and $280,000 when it goes to auction in London next month.The white 1976 Lotus Esprit from the 1977 film starring Roger Moore and Barbara Bach, will be sold on December 1 at Bonhams auctions' annual motoring sale. It was one of two Lotus cars driven in the film by Bond.It turns into an amphibious car for the movie, driven both on land and under water.Meanwhile, the number plate AU1 from the earlier Bond classic Goldfinger is for sale in the same auction. AU1 was fitted to the Rolls-Royce Phantom III used by arch villain Goldfinger in the film.AU is the chemical symbol for gold in the Periodic Table. The registration number is expected to fetch more than $185,000. 

Michael Schumacher retired with seven world championships, but 007 is up to 21 movies — with six different macho men in the role — and still going hard.During the past quarter-century and in 21 official films, Bond has been the target of more bad guys on wheels than anyone else in cinema history, yet he has always managed to escape without a scratch.And he has often pulled a nifty U-turn on the opposition with some sort of car trickery, from concealed machine guns on a 1960s Aston Martin to an '80s Lotus Esprit that morphed into a submarine — and even a remote-controlled BMW 7 Series in the '90s.Now he's back for the noughties, and doing it again in the remake of Casino Royale, which opened in cinemas just before Christmas. And he's back in an Aston Martin, just like the early days.The hype for the new 007 movie got me thinking not only about Bond's wheelwork in the latest British supercar, but also the dream car of my childhood: a scale model of the Aston Martin DB5 Bond drove in the 1960s.It came with all the Bond gear — revolving number plates, concealed machine guns, tyre-slashers, a bulletproof rear shield and even an ejector seat.In 1965, Corgi released its scale model of the gadget-laden DB5, and by 1968 nearly four million copies had been sold.It remains Corgi's best-known model, and I couldn't afford it.The release of the 21st-century Casino Royale has triggered a lot of talk about 007 and cars and movies.The model-making machine is already rolling again, with scaled-down copies of the DBS and even re-done — but de-gadgeted — replicas of the original DB5. And this time, there was a tiny Aston in my Christmas stocking.It's worth looking at what Bond cameos have done for car companies.BMW experienced plenty of benefit when it signed a multi-movie deal that began with its baby Z3 convertible. The world saw the car first when it was driven on the big screen by Bond. That deal continued with the Z8 convertible and the controversially styled 7, and even a BMW motorcycle.But then Britain bounced back for the last of Pierce Brosnan's appearances as Bond, when he slid back into an Aston and the baddies strapped into a rocket-equipped Jaguar.This time around, Agent 007 is driving a gorgeous new DBS, and there's even a special appearance by an original DB5.A poll has been conducted for the television series Top Gear on the most popular car chase in Bond movie history. And the winner is ... no, not the Aston. Not a Jaguar, nor the Lotus, nor even one of the BMWs.First choice was a crazy little Citroen 2CV that suffered all sorts of punishment — including being cut in half — when it was driven by Roger Moore in the 1981 film For Your Eyes Only. The four-wheeled co-stars:Dr No (1962): Sunbeam Alpine, Chevrolet Bel AirconvertibleFrom Russia With Love (1963): Bentley Mark IVGoldfinger (1964): Aston Martin DB5, Rolls-Royce, Mercedes 190SL, Lincoln Continental, Ford Mustang convertible, Rolls-Royce Phantom IIIThunderball (1965): Aston Martin DB5, Ford Mustang convertible, BSA Lightning motorcycle, gyrocopter1967 You Only Live Twice: Toyota 2000 GT, BMW CSOn Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969): Aston Martin DBS, Mercury Cougar, Bentley S2 Continental, Rolls-Royce CornicheDiamonds Are Forever (1971): Ford Mustang Mach 1, Triumph Stag, moon buggyLive And Let Die (1973): double-decker London bus, Chevrolet Impala convertible, MiniMokeThe Man With The Golden Gun (1974): AMC Hornet and Matador, Rolls-Royce Silver ShadowThe Spy Who Loved Me (1977): Lotus Esprit, Wetbike concept, Ford Cortina Ghia, Mini MokeMoonraker (1979): Bentley Mark IV, Rolls-Royce SilverWraithFor Your Eyes Only (1981): Citroen 2CV, Lotus Esprit Turbo, Rolls-Royce Silver WraithOctopussy (1983): Mercedes-Benz 250 SE, BMW 5 Series, Alfa Romeo GTVA View To A Kill (1985): Renault taxi, Ford LTD, Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II, Chevrolet Corvette C4The Living Daylights (1987): Aston Martin DBS and V8 Vantage, Audi 200 QuattroLicence To Kill (1989): Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow, Kenworth petrol tankerGoldenEye (1995): BMW Z3, Aston Martin DB5, Russian tank, Ferrari 355Tomorrow Never Dies (1997): Aston Martin DB5, BMW 750iL, BMW R1200C motorcycleThe World Is Not Enough (1999): BMW Z8, Rolls-Royce Silver ShadowDie Another Day (2002): Aston Martin Vanquish, Jaguar XKR, Ford Thunderbird convertibleCasino Royale (2006): Aston Martin DBS and DB5, Jaguar E-type roadster, Fiat Panda 4x4, Ford Transit, Ford Mondeo