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“The name’s Bond… James Bond…”
Hearing this line, the image of British Agent 007 James Bond coming gracefully from the sky of fire immediately came to mind.
No matter how long it takes, in which era, the image of 007 can harvest a wave of fans, and his unique protagonist aura is inseparable from the "essential elements of loading B" that will appear in every movie.
Clothes: Expensive, sophisticated suits
Partner: Every sexy girl is different
Drinking: "A dry martini, Shaken, not stirred" (a cup of dry martini, shake well, do not stir)
Of course, there is also his must-kill skill: a sports car that drags cool and hidden mechanisms.
▲For example, this sports car
James Bond's most dramatic car is a Lotus (now Lotus), a men's international sports car brand with a wind.
Mention Lotus, and there's no way to bypass the legendary experience of its founder, Colin Chapman.
In 1948, he remodeled the Lotus Mark I car in the simple garage of his girlfriend's house and drove the car to win the championship in the famous Trials race in The United Kingdom;
In 1948, after graduation, he joined the Royal Air Force;
After the end of his service, he joined the British Aluminium Company.
Colin Chapman
The dual equipment of aviation technology + aluminum industry experience laid the foundation for him to build the Lotus brand in the future.
After that, with its excellent aerodynamic design, Lotus, founded by Colin Chapman, has forged ahead on the track and become the "king of aerodynamics" in the field of racing.
The designers not only pioneered a series of technologies that led the aerodynamic design of F1 cars, such as fixed wind wings, ground effects and roof intake boxes, but also continued to innovate and create a series of models with excellent aerodynamic design and excellent driving performance, such as the Type49, Type72 and other revolutionary models.
In addition to racing cars, many lotus designed and produced sports cars have entered the public eye with film and television dramas.
In the 60s and 70s of the last century, Lotus's Elan and Europa cars appeared in the british drama "The Avengers" ("The Avengers").
▲ Lotus Europa appeared in "The Avengers" ("The Avengers").
Lotus Elan and the show's lead actress Diana Rigg formed an indissoluble bond, and her appearance at the Lotus booth at the 1965 Earls Court auto show gave Lotus Elan, who was first fitted with a steel skeleton chassis and fiberglass body, more eye-catching.
▲ Diana Rigg attends the Lotus booth at the 1965 Earl's Palace Motor Show
The successful exposure of the sports car in the film made Lotus's publicist at the time, Don McLachland, particularly happy.
Immediately after, he planned to push a brand new Lotus Esprit to the New Avengers, but unexpectedly, there were other surprises outside the plan.
Don McLachland found a mysterious note on the Pinewood set that read—
“See me – Bond”
Don McLachland understood, slipped out of the crew of The New Avengers, and learned from people familiar with the matter that the 007 film production team was looking for a car that could transform into a submarine.
This may be an opportunity for Lotus! Don McLachland thinks so, but the information is highly confidential and can't be communicated directly to the production team of 007.
Roger Moore and Lotus Esprit, who play 007
How do you get the other person to contact you?
Don McLachland made a bold decision by driving a red Lotus Esprit prototype to the Pinewood Set, parking it in the early morning in front of the studio executive's office building, then getting out of the car and leaving.
Everyone who comes to work has to bypass the car to get into the building.
In addition, Don McLachland also covered or cut off all the Lotus brand elements in the car.
Then, throughout the day, the car moved several times around the office building and forced it into sight.
▲ Lotus Esprit
Before leaving work, more and more people began to discuss around the car, but Don McLachlan didn't give any superfluous explanation at all, just said sorry to the onlookers and drove away.
He managed to get the attention of the 007 film production team.
What is this sacred car?
They asked a staff member, but the other person mysteriously said: "I really can't tell you that this car is still a prototype car."
At the urging of the 007 film production team, the staff had to "reluctantly" tell them about Don McLachland's phone.
In the end, Lotus Esprit was selected as the Bond car in the 007: Underwater City movie.
▲ Lotus Esprit on the set of the movie "007: Underwater City"
A lot of interesting things happened during the filming of the film.
Claude Renoir, the cinematographer who made the film, insisted on a white Lotus Esprit, believing the car would show amazing results in the bright Mediterranean sun and underwater.
In addition, as a prop car, the white Lotus Esprit in the film replaced the "Esprit" letter on the hood with "LOTUS" and removed the badge next to it.
In the movie, there is a fierce car chase scene in which 007 drives the car, and what the audience does not know is that part of this shot is actually done by Roger Becker, the former chief engineer of Lotus, as a stunt double.
▲ Stills of Lotus Esprit in the movie 007: Underwater City
In addition, the climax of the car chase scene, Bond driving the Lotus Esprit from the dock into the sea, is also a big highlight.
To illustrate the visuals of this shot, the crew used a powerful air cannon to fire a body shell with wheels into the sea.
While lotus esprit's aerodynamic design provides strong downforce to stabilize the vehicle on the road, it is not suitable for use as a submarine underwater.
How did the production team finally solve this problem?
If you look closely at the picture here, you will find that when the car is underwater, the front fin is in an upward position.
And that's because, to give enough power to the front of the car to prevent it from sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the crew filled the ping-pong balls under the hood you couldn't see.
On July 7, 1977, when "007: Underwater City" was released at Leicester Square Concert Hall in London, the Lotus Esprit in the film quickly swept the world and became the supercar white moonlight in the minds of countless people.
Lotus Esprit in 1990's Pretty Woman starring Julia Roberts
The model also reappeared in 1990's "Pretty Woman" starring Julia Roberts and 1992's "Instinct" starring Sharon Stone, and its unique British style combined with extreme speed made it the top model on the screen.
Lotus Esprit in 1992's Instinct starring Sharon Stone
Being able to become a big name on the screen also has a lot to do with Lotus Esprit's futuristic design.
Created by founder Colin Chapman and Italian designer Giorgio Giorgio, Lotus Esprit not only inherits Lotus's aerodynamic design DNA, but also adopts the concept of "origami design", which is still a pioneer to this day.
At that time, the BMW M1 and the DeRonin DMC-12 were influenced by lotus Esprit, which adopted a sharp straight line full of futuristic design.
▲ Deronin DMC-12
At the same time, this design has also greatly influenced the founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, the world's richest man today.
We can see the shadow of lotus Esprit from the shape of tesla, a pure electric pickup truck full of cyberpunk style, Tesla Cybercruck.
▲ Tesla Cyberruck
And Musk has made no secret of his love for Lotus Esprit.
In 2013, he appeared at the James Bond auction and bought the Lotus Esprit S1, a prop car from the movie 007: Underwater City, for £616,300 (about 5.45 million yuan).
▲ Lotus Esprit's prop car in the movie "007: Underwater City"
On July 7, 2020, exactly 43 years later, to commemorate Lotus Esprit's appearance in the 007 movie, Lotus officially released another stunning white painted supercar , the new electric supercar Evija.
▲ Lotus Esprit with the new electric supercar Evija
Lotus Evija and Lotus Esprit in 007: Underwater City use the same white livery, one to pay homage to the past and the other to pursue a more avant-garde future.
Let's take a look at the remarkable thing about this car with a series of numbers:
Maximum power reaches 2,000 hp;
Maximum torque 1,700 Nm;
Zero hundred accelerates in less than 3 seconds;
0~300 km/h acceleration time of less than 9 seconds;
Extreme speed of more than 320 km / h;
With an ultra-light carbon fiber monocoque structure and a curb weight of only 1,680 kg, it is the world's lightest pure electric supercar.
......
In terms of design, Evija inherits Lotus's "performance-defined aesthetic"——
Through the innovative "porosity" design and the Venturi Tunnel that runs through the entire rear of the car, the Lotus Evija has 1,800 kg downforce at extreme speed, exceeding the mass of this car.
That is, it is theoretically possible to drive upside down on the ceiling.
Lotus, a classic British luxury car brand with a deep racing pedigree, not only creates multiple miracles on the track, but also constantly surpasses their original achievements in body design.
▲ Lotus Esprit with the new electric supercar Lotus Evija
I wonder if this car will one day appear on the screen?
I think it needs a "big man" who is no less than 007 to hold it, after all, this car is limited to 130 units worldwide and sells for up to 21.88 million yuan.
Lotus will launch the pure electric HYPER SUV -TYPE 132 at Lotus's London conference on March 29.
This is Lotus's second pure electric vehicle, which not only follows the design concept of Lotus Evija's "porosity", according to existing spy reports, its performance in terms of performance is also very exciting -
Accelerate within 3 seconds from 100 km/h, use 800V high-voltage charging system, charge to 80% of the power only takes 20 minutes...
In terms of appearance, its front face is equipped with an active air intake grille and the interior is diamond-shaped, with a slender LED light cluster on both sides.
▲Type 132 front face design
In addition, the new car will be equipped with a carbon fiber front lip assembly, and the side brake calipers will also be stamped with the "Lotus" logo inside, enhancing the sporty feel of the body.
▲ Inside the side brake calipers
Coupled with track-level intelligent driving,
I think it has the potential to become a new generation of global screen superstars.