ASTON Martin has opened the order books on James Bond’s DB5 sportscar featured in the 1964 film Goldfinger, with 25 examples for sale at £2.75 million ($A4.82 million) before on-roads and first deliveries earmarked for 2020.
Unfortunately, the limited-run vehicles will not be road legal, likely owing to the fact that the screen-accurate DB5s will also sport functional gadgets including a rotating number plate that featured in the film.
While Aston Martin Asia Pacific president Patrik Nilsson would not confirm if any of the batch of 25 vehicles have been snapped up by well-heeled Australian buyers, he said orders have been placed by customers in the APAC region.
“Aston Martin has received strong interest in Australia and New Zealand (for the Goldfinger DB5). It is a market that contains some of the finest collections of cars so these very rare, special editions always attract significant attention,” he said.
“We can’t comment on individual customers enquiring, however we can confirm that deposits have already been taken in the APAC region.”
Built at Aston Martin’s facility in Newport Pagnell, England – where the original DB5 was produced from 1963-1965 – the latest Aston Martin continuation project will be created with EON Productions, the British film company that produces the James Bond films.
As such, the Goldfinger DB5 will be offered exclusively in the Silver Birch paint finish to mirror the vehicle in the Sean Connery-starring film, while the working gadgets are co-developed with special effects supervisor Chris Corbould.
However, Aston Martin says “some sympathetic modifications to ensure the highest levels of build quality and reliability” will also be included to bring the DB5 into the 21st century.
Powered by a 4.0-litre dual-overhead cam straight-six petrol engine, the DB5 produces 210kW of power at 5500rpm and 380Nm of torque at 4500rpm.
With drive send to the rear wheels, the DB5 can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 7.1 seconds – about as fast as the current Toyota 86, Mazda MX-5 and Volkswagen Golf GTI.
In addition to the 25 examples for sale, another three Goldfinger DB5s will be built – one for EON Productions, another for Aston Martin and the last to be auctioned off for charity.
Aston Martin president and chief executive officer Andy Palmer called the Goldfinger DB5 “the ultimate collectors’ fantasy” as the vehicle also featured in six other James Bond films including Thunderball (1965), Goldeneye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).
“The connection between Aston Martin and James Bond is something of which we are very proud and it is remarkable that the DB5 remains the definitive James Bond car after so many years,” he said.
“To own an Aston Martin has long been an aspiration for James Bond fans, but to own a Silver Burch DB5, complete with gadgets and built to the highest standards in the very same factory as the original James Bond cars? Well, that is surely the ultimate collectors’ fantasy.”
James Bond’s 25th feature film – and Daniel Craig’s fifth in the titular role – is earmarked to hit theatres towards the end of next year, but director Danny Boyle recently stepped away from the project due to “creative differences”, putting the planned release date in question.
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