James Bond's submarine Lotus Esprit car sold at auction

The submarine Lotus Esprit is said to be fully operational

The car was used during filming in the Bahamas

A submarine car used in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me has been sold for £550,000.

The Lotus Esprit sold for less than the guide price despite a bidding war between a woman in the auction room and a telephone bidder who took the prized collector's piece.

The car, said to be fully operational, was used in the underwater scene of the 1977 film starring Roger Moore as 007.

After filming it toured various car shows before being stored in New York.

It was sold at RM Auctions in Battersea, south-west London, for less than the estimated price of between £650,000 and £950,000.

In had previously been auctioned as a blind lot in 1989.

Peter Haynes, from the auction house, said: "Bearing in mind it is not a car that can be driven on the road, the price just goes to prove the draw that all Bond-related memorabilia has."