2023-09-19 19:43:48
A young couple, who wished to remain anonymous, purchased an unclaimed storage unit in 1989. For this space, and its contents, which they were not able to discover before purchasing, the couple paid around a hundred dollars at the time.
And without knowing it, this couple from Long Island, New York, hit the jackpot. Indeed, under some old dusty covers, the storage unit actually housed a 1976 Lotus Esprit. And not just any Lotus Esprit: the Lotus Esprit used by James Bond in the film The Spy Who Loved Me (The Spy Who Loved Me).
After filming, which took place between August 31, 1976 and January 26, 1977, the car driven by the James Bond of the time (namely Roger Moore), was stored in this storage unit, then completely forgotten. It was only years later that the car would be authenticated by specialist Doug Redenius. He will also explain that the couple had never watched a James Bond film before and “had no idea of the value of their discovery“.
Subsequently, the couple loaned the car for multiple exhibitions, before putting it up for auction in 2013. And it was during the auction managed by Sotheby’s that the car was sold to a secret buyer for the sum of 997,000 dollars.
You guessed it: the secret buyer didn’t stay that way for long. Because it was Elon Musk, the billionaire at the head of Tesla, X and Space X, for whom a small million dollars does not represent much. Which is far from being the case for the couple, who undoubtedly made the deal of the century by purchasing this apparently banal storage unit 34 years ago.
1695174194
#unusual #minute #buy #legendary #car #chance #dollars #Elon #Musk #buys #million
