 The main unit began its work in August 1976 in Sardinia.Don McLaughlan, then head of public relations at Lotus Cars, heard that Eon were shopping for a new Bond car.He drove a prototype Lotus Esprit with all Lotus branding taped over, and parked it outside the Eon offices at Pinewood studios; on seeing the car Eon asked Lotus to borrow both of the prototypes for filming.