Wet Nellie auctioned for less than projected

“Wet Nellie” from The Spy Who Loved Me

“Wet Nellie,” the submarine car from 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me, was auctioned on Sept. 9 but for less than some estimates before the sale.

The car fetched 550,000 British pounds (about $863,000), according to 007 fan sites such as BOND LIFESTYLE and THE JAMES BOND DOSSIER that monitored the auction online.

While not cheap, there had been projections Wet Nellie would go for 650,000 and 950,000 pounds. Not everyone was that bullish. There were low estimates that the vehicle bring a selling price of 500,000 pounds.

The result reinforces the only rule: an object, whether it’s an old comic book or something as elaborate as Wet Nellie, is worth what somebody is willing to pay for it.

The car that was auctioned was the one that function underwater, with frogmen in wet suits piloting the craft.

UPDATE: Robert Frank of CNBC TOOK A GUESS IN A POST ON NBC.COM why the auction price came up short. Here’s an excerpt

It’s unclear why the price was soft, given the boom in collectible cars and its status as an especially famous car from the silver screen. But auction experts said that because the Lotus was not a functional car, it may not have been as attractive to buyers. Although equipped with fins and propellers, it did not have wheels.