Bond cars go under the hammer

LONDON, July 26: A Lotus Esprit car which converts into a submarine, as driven by spy James Bond in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me, was sold on Saturday for 28,000 pounds (46,500 dollars).

Another Lotus used by Agent 007 in the movie For Your Eyes Only went for 22,000 pounds at the auction held by maker Lotus at the Silverstone racing circuit, north of London. Both cars were bought by Peter Nelson, a 40-year-old Briton who claims to have the biggest collection of Bond cars in the world in the museum he has opened in Keswick, northern England.

An avid Bond fan, Nelson nevertheless does not turn his up nose at other cinema heroes.