Take the plunge with world's first underwater car

Published on Thursday 14 February 2008 21:08

CINEMA audiences gasped as James Bond's white Lotus Esprit plunged into the sea and became an armed submarine in the 1977 film The Spy Who Loved Me.

Thirty-one years later, the far-fetched notion of an underwater car has been made a reality, with the unveiling of a fully-working version of the amphibious 007 icon.

The Esprit, whose special properties were created with the help of animation techniques, had torpedoes, an underwater smokescreen, surface-to-air missiles and depth charges, and it featured in one of the most famous scenes in Roger Moore's Bond career.

The Swiss company Rinspeed has come up with an open-topped concept car that can go over land, above the waves and even under water to a depth of ten metres. It doesn't, however, have torpedoes.

Apparently modelled on the more modern curves of the Lotus Elise, the sQuba, to be displayed at next month's Geneva Motor Show, has three electric motors, one to power the rear wheels and two for the specially designed propellers. They can take it to 75mph on land, a sedate 4mph while cruising in "boat" mode and a positively tranquil 2mph under water. Once under water, the occupants' oxygen comes from an integrated tank of compressed air similar to that used by scuba divers.

The company claims the car is not only revolutionary but extremely "green" as well. It is a zero-emission vehicle and has a salt water-resistant interior.

Frank Rinderknecht, 52, the firm's boss and a keen James Bond fan, said: "For three decades, I have tried to imagine how it might be possible to build a car that can fly under water. Now we have made this dream come true.

"It is undoubtedly not an easy task to make a car watertight and pressure-resistant enough to be manoeuvrable under water. The real challenge, however, was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in water.

"For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car, so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency. With an enclosed cabin, opening the door might be impossible."

The vehicle can stay under water "until you run out of air or battery power", which is about two hours.

Mr Rinderknecht said the sensation was just like scuba diving – in a car. He said: "It's a special feeling. We could have made it a lot quicker by using a bigger model with more batteries, but that wasn't the issue."

Creation of the car, which is unlikely to see mass production, has already cost 745,000.

But Matt Nichols, of the Classic Car Club, said the sQuba was unlikely to catch on and become a classic. "It might be popular among British drivers in areas prone to flooding, but as a classic I don't think it will swim.

"The Swiss don't have much pedigree in car design and manufacture, so it stands to reason they take inspiration from a British car. These cars are only for show and for the super-rich."

A spokesman for Norfolk-based Lotus, which is not involved in the project, said: "We are delighted that they have chosen to use the Elise. The original Lotus in the film was a British icon driven by a British icon."

HI-TECH WAY TO FIGHT GUN CRIME

JAMES Bond-style bugging devices that can pinpoint the exact location of gunmen as they open fire may be introduced to British cities to halt gangland shoot-outs.

Sensors would be put up at secret locations on street corners and near shopping centres in areas scarred by gun violence.

They can determine not only where a shooting took place but also the number of weapons fired, the calibre of the gun and whether the gunman was moving at speed.

Each device is specially programmed to identify the crack of gunfire by recognising the soundwaves of a bullet being fired. This highly developed "filter technology" helps to discount similar noises, such as fireworks or a backfire from a car exhaust.

The bugging sensors each cover an area of two square miles, and the technology is already in use in 27 cities in the United States, detecting an average of 40 gunshots per night.

West Midlands Police hope to try out the system – called ShotStopper – in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Coventry.

Chief Superintendent Phil Kay said:

"The technology would help with deployment of armed response vehicles and provides advanced warning of a situation they are going into."