If you fancy
yourself to be James Bond and have £ 2.75 million to spare,
then this will definitely float your boat. More than five decades after the
last one was built, the Aston Martin DB5 is back, although in a very limited
run of 25 units.
The car made famous
by Bond is being reissued, the result of a collaboration between Aston Martin
and EON Productions, the company that produces the James Bond films. The
Goldfinger DB5 continuation, as it’s known as, will be based on Bond’s
legendary ride from 1964 and will be built by Aston Martin Works at Newport
Pagnell, which is the original home of the DB5.
The 25 continuation
units will be authentic reproductions of the DB5 as seen on screen, but will
feature what the company calls ‘sympathetic modifications’, in essence
promising tighter tolerances and better build quality than the ’60s unit.
All the cars will
be produced to one specification and will come only in Silver Birch paint, just
like the original. The original DB5 was powered by a twin-cam 4.0 litre
straight-six with three SU carburetters, which offered 282 bhp and 379 Nm in
the way of output.
The DB5 will
feature functioning gadgets that will be developed by Oscar-winner Chris
Corbould, the special effects supervisor on eight Bond movies. Items will
include the revolving number plate, and it’ll be interesting to see just how
many items make their way on – presumably not, the oil spray or a functioning
ejector seat.
The DB5 made its
first appearance in Goldfinger, the third Bond movie, and featured in a further
six Bond films, these being Thunderball (1965), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow
Never Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).
First deliveries of
the 25 cars will begin in 2020, and a further three cars will be built, but not
made public issue – EON and Aston Martin will get one each, and the third will
be auctioned for charity.
