Photo: Aston Martin
Come Christmas, 25 very lucky (and very rich) James Bond fans will be able to drive like 007 himself, as Aston Martin will deliver the limited-edition DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars. Production on the first example is now underway at the carmaker’s Heritage Division, Aston Martin says.
The limited series was initially announced back in 2018, but Aston Martin says it’s just started production on the first example, aptly called “Job 1.” All 25 examples will be exact replicas of the DB5 James Bond drove in the 1964 film, down to the gadgets shown on screen, through a partnership with EON Productions and special effects guru Chris Corbould OBE.
The only differences between the OG DB5 and these continuation cars will be the price and, obviously, the fact that James Bond’s butt hasn’t sat in any of these 25 vehicles. The original 007 car sold last year for $6.4 million, while the replicas are priced at £2.75 million, plus taxes, which puts them at around $3.4 million at today’s rate.
Save for these differences, the owners will get a proper, working James Bond car. Each example takes 4,500 hours to make by hand, will be painted in Silver Birch, and will include anything from fake but working front machine guns, tire slasher, radar and hidden weapons tray under the seat, to smoke screen delivery system and triple revolving license plates. Naturally, the machine guns won’t fire actual bullets, but they will simulate it both visually and audibly.
The car is not road-legal, so it’s a collector’s piece. Aston Martin is confident James Bond collectors will get their money’s worth and they’re probably right: all 25 examples have long been spoken for. Delivery will take place by the end of the year.
“Seeing the first customer car move painstakingly through the intricate production process we have created really is quite a thrill,” Heritage Program Manager Clive Wilson says in a press release. “Obviously we have not, as a business, made a new DB5 for more than 50 years, so to be involved in the building of these cars, which will go on to form part of Aston Martin’s history, is something I’m sure all of us will be telling our grandkids about!”
The only differences between the OG DB5 and these continuation cars will be the price and, obviously, the fact that James Bond’s butt hasn’t sat in any of these 25 vehicles. The original 007 car sold last year for $6.4 million, while the replicas are priced at £2.75 million, plus taxes, which puts them at around $3.4 million at today’s rate.
Save for these differences, the owners will get a proper, working James Bond car. Each example takes 4,500 hours to make by hand, will be painted in Silver Birch, and will include anything from fake but working front machine guns, tire slasher, radar and hidden weapons tray under the seat, to smoke screen delivery system and triple revolving license plates. Naturally, the machine guns won’t fire actual bullets, but they will simulate it both visually and audibly.
The car is not road-legal, so it’s a collector’s piece. Aston Martin is confident James Bond collectors will get their money’s worth and they’re probably right: all 25 examples have long been spoken for. Delivery will take place by the end of the year.
“Seeing the first customer car move painstakingly through the intricate production process we have created really is quite a thrill,” Heritage Program Manager Clive Wilson says in a press release. “Obviously we have not, as a business, made a new DB5 for more than 50 years, so to be involved in the building of these cars, which will go on to form part of Aston Martin’s history, is something I’m sure all of us will be telling our grandkids about!”
Google News