Monday 16th January 2006

007's DB5 up for Sale

Historic Aston expected to fetch millions

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The most famous Aston Martin of all time is to go under the hammer later this week.

DB5

James Bond's 1965 DB5 as used in Thunderball and Goldfinger is to be auctioned off by RM Auctions, a collectible cars specialist based in Chatham, Ontario. The model for sale is one of four cars used in the movies.

"The James Bond Aston Martin DB5 is one of the most famous cars in the world," says RM's Canadian co-founder Rob Myers.

"It's just amazing. This is by far and away the most popular car we have seen in our 26 years of hosting collector car auctions."

Some of the special James Bond options include:

• Front and rear hydraulic over-rider rams on bumpers
• Front firing .30 caliber Browning machine guns powered by trunk mounted oxy/propane system
• Wheel mounted tire slasher
• Retractable rear bullet-proof screen
• Radio telephone concealed in secret compartment
• Radar scanner in racing type wing mirror with tracking screen in the cockpit
• Passenger ejector seat - with removable roof panel (seat since replaced with standard seat)
• Oil slick ejector from left side rear light cluster
• Triple spiked nails (caltrops) from the right side rear light cluster
• Smoke screen released through separate rear system - located next to rear exhaust
• Revolving number plates (3) featuring licences YRE 186H, 007JB and JB007
• Armaments drawer under front driver seat

The car was originally bought by Sir Anthony Banford for £1,000 but is now expected to fetch between $1.5 ands $2.5 million!

Links

• RM Auctions
• Related story: Bond's DB5 goes under the hammer

 

[munky]

C'mon Shady... you know you want it!

[GTRene]

I like those Revolving number plates
With all those speedcamera's, it can come in handy when using also the minister of safety's(traffic?) carplates that way he will know how beloved he is getting all those ticket mails

[skint_driver]

>(seat since replaced with standard seat)

Shame. Have always wanted an ejector seat.
Count me out then.

[munky]

Not sure what the MOT station would make of the guns or the triple spiked nail dispenser. However my first car did have an oil slick ejector (the engine) and, oddly, 2 gear levers.

[dinkel]

Front firing .30 caliber Browning machine guns powered by trunk mounted oxy/propane system . . .



Just change my profession and start making money . . .

[big rumbly]

I had the Corgi model as a kid

[ultimasimon]

This car was from an era when special effects meant that some clever tech had to design the systems ont the car that actually work - way before CGI came along.

So who wants to hedge a bet on the selling price. Will the guide price be correct or will it go for less?

I say it will sell for around £750,000 given the current climate for exotica.

Also I wonder what happened to the S1 Esprit

Did that ever come to auction?

[wedg1e]

ultimasimon said:

This car was from an era when special effects meant that some clever tech had to design the systems ont the car that actually work - way before CGI came along. So who wants to hedge a bet on the selling price. Will the guide price be correct or will it go for less? I say it will sell for around £750,000 given the current climate for exotica. Also I wonder what happened to the S1 Esprit Did that ever come to auction?

Which one? Several were used; one is in the Cars of the Stars museum in Keswick, one was abandoned on a beach (Hawaii?) and rescued by a Yank a couple of years back, one (the actual submarine) is on a trailer and keeps changing hands as a display piece (been on Ebay a couple of times).
I'm surprised nobody has ever built a 'replica' of the car Bond originally drove in Casino Royale (the novel, not the farce)... a Bentley Conti with one-off bodywork, as I recall.

[anonymous-user]

I've still got the steering wheel centre from that Esprit. I visited Pinewood studios when I was a kid and it ended up at my house!!!!!! Allegedly!!!

[williamp]

I think the DB5 will suprass $1 million. With normal DB5's fetching over £130K now, one with this provenance will be higher.

[maxed]

williamp said:

I think the DB5 will suprass $1 million. With normal DB5's fetching over £130K now, one with this provenance will be higher.

Didn't realise they command that price.
Been clocking one outside local Tesco Xpress & wanted to tell the fella to polish it
Will do next time

[TimW]

The plate is interesting as it was fitted to a white Lotus Esprit parked up near me a couple of weeks ago, perhaps its just a show plate .

[williamp]

The car is a show car: it was not used in the Bind films, but was one of two converted afterwards for publicity.

There were two used in the films. One (the "road" car) is well known within the amoc and lives int he US. The other (with the gadgets) was stolen a few years ago. The insurers paid out about $4 million, according to Octane magazine. It has never been found since*


*But might be with the James Dean Porsche with Elvis

[richb]

williamp said:

The car is a show car: it was not used in the Bind films, but was one of two converted afterwards for publicity.

I hesitate to question the expert but i thought the article in Octane said it was one of the effects cars and was indeed used for filming. There were 2 x road cars one of which has gone missing. Rich...

[ultimasimon]

wedg1e said:

Which one? Several were used; one is in the Cars of the Stars museum in Keswick, one was abandoned on a beach (Hawaii?) and rescued by a Yank a couple of years back, one (the actual submarine) is on a trailer and keeps changing hands as a display piece (been on Ebay a couple of times). I'm surprised nobody has ever built a 'replica' of the car Bond originally drove in Casino Royale (the novel, not the farce)... a Bentley Conti with one-off bodywork, as I recall.

Thats most interesting. I had no idea that the 'submarine car' actually went underwater I presumed it was a cinematic effect or similar. One of my favourite films and a car which I have always wanted. Although a lot of people critisize the S1 for its square and boxy shape, I still think that it was the best shaped Esprit ever produced and one of Guigiaro's finest creations.

I also think that the DB5 is the classiest of all the Astons. Strange my taste in styling must be, as the two cars are completely the opposite of each other

[NAS]

IFAIK, there were 4 DB5's made for the movies. One resides in a museum in the Netherlands.

[jeremyc]

wedg1e said:

ultimasimon said: Also I wonder what happened to the S1 Esprit Which one? Several were used; one is in the Cars of the Stars museum in Keswick, one was abandoned on a beach (Hawaii?) and rescued by a Yank a couple of years back, one (the actual submarine) is on a trailer and keeps changing hands as a display piece (been on Ebay a couple of times).

One is in the current James Bond exhibition at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in it's 'underwater' configuration.

[Andrew Noakes]

NAS said:

IFAIK, there were 4 DB5's made for the movies.

Sort of. William P is right, there were two cars used for filming Goldfinger and Thunderball - one of which wasn't really a DB5 at all - and another two which later had gadgets fitted and were used for promotional work. This one, I think, is DB5/2008/R, which is the first of the two promo cars.

The one in the Cars of the Stars museum is DB5/1885/R which was the one used in GoldenEye.

[caro]

big rumbly said:

I had the Corgi model as a kid

We still have one - would love to park the original beside it.....

[dinkel]

European collector got it . . . out of 1500 who wanted.