Apparently inspired by the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, the new sQuba concept car developed by Rinspeed will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

Costing more than $1.6 million to create, the sQuba has been designed to “fly” underwater at a depth of 10 metres.

Looking curiously like a Lotus Elise, the sQuba was based on the idea of the submersible Lotus Espirit in the Bond film.

Rinspeed, who are notorious for glamming up Porsches until they gleam like diamonds (sometimes literally), say that engineers had to ensure the car was watertight and pressure-resistant. It also is a convertible for easy exit underwater.

“We always want to do cars that are outrageous, which nobody has done before,” CEO Frank Rinderknecht told The Associated Press. “So we thought, let’s make a car dive.”

“For safety reasons we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency.The real challenge, however, was to create a submersible car that moves like a fish in water.”

Would you hop in?

Photos: AP