The James Bond movies are well-known for featuring unique sports cars in each of their movies, beefed up with advanced tech by the quartermaster of the British Secret Service, Q. The Spy Who Loved Me, released in 1977 and featuring Roger Moore, had an iconic 1976 Lotus Espirit capable of transforming into a submarine. After production of the movie wrapped, the car disappeared.
Until, in 1989, a couple found the vehicle in a storage unit they won in a blind auction (an auction where buyer and seller don’t know the contents of the unit). They paid $100 for the car.
It didn’t take long for the couple, who hadn’t seen a bond movie, to find out the car was unique.
Flash forward to 2013, the couple put the car up for auction. None other than Elon Musk placed the winning bid, spending almost $1 million for the iconic vehicle.
While this could provide enough fodder for any story, I think this could be beefed up to create a story I’d want to write. What if, instead of a car, the couple found evidence of a famous murder? Or murderer? What if the contents of a storage unit led an amateur sleuth down the path of the true identity of Jack the Ripper? A wealthy entrepreneur could pay for the information, or back the hunt, providing the funds for the truth to be discovered. Then, at the end, it could come out that the wealthy backed is in fact related to the murderer and tries to kill the detective and bury the truth.
Alternatively, and much more in the “Dan Brown “vein of stories, the contents of the abandoned storage unit could be an ancient relic, prompting an Indiana Jones type story to unfold.
This also reminds me of The Silence of the Lambs, how a severed head was found in Hannibal Lecter’s storage unit. This could lead the purchaser of the unit down a path of twists and turns which ultimately lead to either a serial killer OR an evil corporation.
