In The Spy Who Loved Me, James Bond drives a Lotus Esprit that transforms for underwater travel.
Bond receives the white Lotus Esprit from Q branch while investigating shipping magnate Karl Stromberg. On land it operates as a sports car, but its concealed equipment allows it to enter the sea and function as a miniature submarine.
The production used several purpose-built versions of the Esprit, including cars for road scenes and a specialized underwater vehicle. The famous underwater sequences were not produced by simply driving a normal road car beneath the surface.
The Lotus Esprit became one of the franchise’s most recognizable vehicles. Its submarine transformation is often remembered as a defining example of Bond technology, while the real production car itself was a mid-engined British sports car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro.