James Bond has had many out-of-this-world gadgets over the course of his 23-film, 50-year career as the world’s most iconic spy, but perhaps the most awe-inspiring was his Lotus Esprit from 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, a faux-futuristic looking car with a pearl white color and design that reflected the disco era in all the best ways. The car also had the ability to transform into a submarine, which naturally helped Bond out of a few tight spots as he did battle with a supervillain with a nautical lair.

Earlier this year, that same submarine-luxury-car hybrid was discovered in a storage unit that had been purchased sight unseen by a random New York couple in 1989. Placed into storage for a decade after production for The Spy Who Loved Me completed, the Lotus Esprit ended up being sold off by the landlords of the storage unit when the movie company failed to make payments.

When the couple discovered what they had, they got in touch with RM Auctions to sell the car, hopefully to a die-hard Bond fan willing to make them millionaires. After all, RM has a track record for selling Bond memorabilia: in 2010, the auction house sold the Aston Martin DB5 that Sean Connery had driven in 1964’s Goldfinger – arguably the most iconic car in the Bond franchise – for about $1.85 million. Since the storage unit had originally changed hands for $100, the new owners of the Lotus were in for a pretty payday.

The car ended up selling for a lower – but still respectable – price of $866,000, but while the New York couple had to make due without becoming millionaires off a single auction item, they now have another thing to brag about. Apparently, the car’s mystery buyer was none other than Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO and visionary behind Tesla Motors and Space X.

According to an article from Jalopnik, Musk is a noted car collector and probably a huge Bond fan as well. The first ever Tesla car was based on the Lotus Elise, a cousin of the Esprit, and for a man who is trying to break new ground with innovative vehicles, the submarine car might just be an invigorating item for inspiration.

“I was disappointed to learn that it can’t actually transform,” Musk told USA Today via email. “What I’m going to do is upgrade it with a Tesla electric powertrain and try to make it transform for real.”

Then again, maybe Musk is just out to get James Bond. The Jalopnik article also noted that some internet conspiracy theorists have jokingly proclaimed Musk to be the real-life manifestation of the crazy, megalomaniac antagonists that 007 has foiled throughout the course of the James Bond film series. Undoubtedly, the news that Musk was the buyer of the Esprit will only exacerbate further speculation on this theory.