One of Bond’s ‘coolest’ cars
I picked up one of the Johnny Lightning 1980 Lotus Esprit 1:64 scale replica of the car from the 1981 James Bond film “For Your Eyes Only.” This was the first James Bond movie I remember seeing in theaters. To this day, it’ still one of my favorite Bond movies.
I did a little research on the car from the Bond film and found a video on YouTube of the original movie car at a show in Monaco. Comparing the car in the video and photos from the movie to the Johnny Lightning diecast, the details match up pretty well down to the license plate. I also found a brief history of the car on SuperCarNostalgia.Com that is pretty comprehensive.
As far as the casting, the car is missing the optional ski rack that was added while filming at the Italian ski destination of Cortina. The Lotus was originally painted white with red graphics. But, producers wanted a darker shade while filming in the snow. The car was repainted in a copper fire metallic with gold stripes and details.
The casting also has a really bad gap in the front wheel well. The gap in the casting is so bad you can see into the interior of the vehicle (you can see the gap in the top, featured photo). However, the interior is nicely detailed and molded in a cream plastic. The Lotus also has rubber, white letter Goodyear tires with aluminum rims.
Johnny Lightning also produces two other variants of the 81 Lotus Turbo Esprit Carrinho from For Your Eyes Only – a white Esprit with black trim and a white Esprit with red stripes. In addition, Round 2, which owns the Johnny Lightning brand, has a wide range of other makes and models from the Bond films, including a Lotus Esprit S1 from The Spy Who Loved Me, which is the famous submarine car .
Boondock Bight 