James Bond's 1965 Aston Martin DB5 is offered for sale for £3m

edited February 2013 in News Posts: 3,333
A 1965 Aston Martin DB5 built for the James Bond film franchise was today put up for sale for a staggering £3million.

The British sports car firm only made four DB5s for the 007 movies Goldfinger and Thunderball which starred Sean Connery as the super-suave spy.

And this classic model is one of only two of the four originals to be fully kitted out with all of Q Branch's famous gadgets including imitation machine guns, revolving number plates and even the tyre-slicing device.

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The DB5 is in pristine condition because it never featured in the films but was instead used for promotion ahead of the release of Thunderball.
Surrey-based Aston Martin specialists RS Williams have now put the DB5 on the market for £3million - describing it as 'the most famous car in the world'.

This makes it one of the most expensive movie cars of all time and almost ten-times the price of a standard DB5.

Under the bonnet of the DB5 is a 4-litre engine which develops around 280bhp - giving the British sports car a top speed of 150mph.
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But next to the impressive 1960s sports car performance and beautiful design, it is the car's gadgets and history which have upped its value.

The car boasts revolving number plates, two imitation machine guns, a bulletproof screen to cover the rear window and a radar device built into the dashboard.

Its front and rear bumpers also extend and there is a fitted smoke device to fend off villains.

Many of the gadgets are operated at the flick of a switch via the arm console which opens up to reveal a control panel.

The DB5 was the first ever Aston Martin to feature in a Bond film - 1964's Goldfinger - and was the start of the iconic partnership that spanned 11 Bond films and 50 years of cinema history.
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This car never appeared on the big screen but was one of two cars used for promotional purposes - touring the USA in 1965 for the release of Thunderball.

It is regarded as one of the four 'legitimate' DB5 Bond cars - and was one of two to have all the gadgets fitted at the time it was built.

Following its PR role, JCB boss and prolific car collector Sir Anthony Bamford bought the DB5 and used it on his Midlands estate.

In 1970 he sold it to an American businessman who held onto it until 2006, when it sold for $2 million.

The main car used in Goldfinger and Thunderball films mysteriously vanishing from a Florida aircraft hangar in the 1990s - making this model the only remaining DB5 that with original gadgets.
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n 2010 the other car used in Goldfinger sold for £2.9 million at RM Auctions' Battersea sale - although all of the car's gadgets were retrofitted following the film series' success.

Richard Williams, who runs RS Williams, said: 'We are privileged to offer one of the original James Bond DB5s.

'It is the most famous car in the world and is a very sought-after model which you get a lot of pleasure from driving.

'Aston Martin built four models and the most important model was stolen with nobody knowing its whereabouts.

'This is the joint second most important as it was built with all the gadgets.

'It is in superb condition and is a great investment. There has been a huge amount of interest in it from all around the world.'
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Powerful: The 4-litre engine of the DB5 which develops around 280bhp and can reach top speeds of 150mph

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2271977/James-Bonds-1965-Aston-Martin-DB5-complete-machine-guns-revolving-number-plates-offered-sale-3m.html

Comments

  • £3 million? Good, I'll take two
  • Yes please!!!!! Now where did I leave my wallet?
  • 001001
    Posts: 1,575
    The car looks in fantastic condition for being so old.
  • Posts: 1,098
    Yes, its in amazing condition..........i mean even the seats look like new, you would of thought over 50 years, natural deterioation would of set in to some of the materials, regardless of how well the car was maintained.
    Great car design in an era when people didnt have 3D modelling computers to help out with their designs.
    Shame that someone in this world has the stolen original car used in filming in their garage??

    How much is that car again?... £3 million..........well i'am counting my money now £1,£2,£3............b*****ks, thats all ive got!
  • It's a fantastic car!
  • jka12002jka12002 Banned
    Posts: 188
    Man this car is like the Batmobile of the 007 franchise, i would love to own this car.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    edited February 2013 Posts: 28,694
    Alright boys, what do you all say we scrap some money together and claim it for ourselves?! It's time Bond fans got some piece of history, and we can share it and everything.


    And by share I mean you can all watch me drive it around. :D
  • 001001
    Posts: 1,575
    Alright boys, what do you all say we scrap some money together and claim it for ourselves?! It's time Bond fans got some piece of history, and we can share it and everything.


    And by share I mean you can all watch me drive it around. :D

    You can't outbid Eon who probably will buy it for their archives.
    They are not short of a dollar now that Skyfall has made a trillion dollars at the box office. :)

  • Posts: 3,333
    001 wrote:
    You can't outbid Eon who probably will buy it for their archives.
    They are not short of a dollar now that Skyfall has made a trillion dollars at the box office. :)
    I think that is a good suggestion and one that EON should seriously consider. If nothing else it makes sense that they should own the gadget-laden DB5 for possible future Bond movies rather than it being stuck in a private collector's garage.
  • 0BradyM0Bondfanatic70BradyM0Bondfanatic7 Quantum Floral Arrangements: "We Have Petals Everywhere"
    Posts: 28,694
    001 wrote:
    Alright boys, what do you all say we scrap some money together and claim it for ourselves?! It's time Bond fans got some piece of history, and we can share it and everything.


    And by share I mean you can all watch me drive it around. :D

    You can't outbid Eon who probably will buy it for their archives.
    They are not short of a dollar now that Skyfall has made a trillion dollars at the box office. :)
    All jokes aside, I hope that happens and I can't understand why they shouldn't be given it. But whoever is selling will try and get a pretty penny for it, even though it is rightfully EON's anyway. If it goes to the archives I will be so very happy.

    When it comes to Bond props/collectables, I feel much like Indy: "It belongs in a museum." Or, for better effect, EON's archives. ;)

  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,341
    How many of this were built? And how many previous owners did this one have? I remember a thread on this on the old forum, does someone have a fresh link?
  • Posts: 3,333
    The article above says four original Aston Martins were fully kitted out with all the gadgets but only two appear to survive. The original car used in Goldfinger and Thunderball films mysteriously vanishing from a Florida aircraft hangar in the 1990s. The car used in the film was the original DB5 prototype, with another standard car used for stunts. The first DB5 prototype used in Goldfinger was later stripped of its weaponry and gadgetry by Aston Martin and then resold. It was then retrofitted by subsequent owners with nonoriginal weaponry. This was the one that was stolen in Florida.
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,341
    So then my next questions:
    1) Is the DB5 used in Skyfall this one, or was another one fitted out?
    2) Is the one from Casino Royale identical with either the one in GE or in SF?
    I am seriously losing count here.
  • edited February 2013 Posts: 3,333
    I just found out by doing a little research that the DB5 in Skyfall belongs to EON Productions and was cloned from the one that's for sale above. Directors in the Aston Martin heritage program had searched extensively to find the perfect vehicle for the movie, and they transformed the one they found from green with a beige interior into a Silver-Birch painted car with black trim distressed to add the patina of age. They even painted an extra line on the roof to represent the exit hatch for the ejector seat. So it's a copy of the private collectors and is not the same one used in Casino Royale.

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahelliott/2012/11/06/everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-bond-car-in-skyfall/
  • zebrafishzebrafish <°)))< in Octopussy's garden in the shade
    Posts: 4,341
    Cool info, thanks! I also did some Wiki research, confirming that there were 4 cars for Goldfinger (#1: the prototype, later stripped, then refitted, then stolen; #2: a stunt car; #3 and #4: two fully fitted PR models, both sold in 2006 and 2010).
    The TB car was either identical with #1 (German Wiki) or with #4 (English Wiki).
    GE had a further 3 stunt cars (#5-7), none of them from previous movies, one of which appeared briefly in TND.
    CR again had a new one (#8), the first one with left-hand drive.
    SF then must be #9.
    This leaves the question whether the fully fitted, right-hand steered DB5 in "The Cannonball Run" is #1, 3 or 4, or yet a different car.
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