Posted by Nicole Wakelin
Aston Martin is not an inexpensive brand. They make bespoke luxury cars that grace the driveways and multicar garages of the most exclusive addresses. James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 recently sold for $6.4 million making all the other Aston Martin’s seem like a steal.
The auction was a part of Monterey Car Week where it isn’t unusual to see rare and unique cars sell for exorbitant sums of money. This is the Aston Martin from Goldfinger so, yes, it’s loaded with the gadgets from the film, which adds to its appeal. This one, however, didn’t appear on the screen, but was used in a promotional tour for Thunderball and built to the same specifications as the original movie car.
This car was sold in 2006 for $2.09 million dollars and then underwent a full restoration by Roos Engineering in Switzerland, an official Aston Martin Heritage Specialist. Thirteen years later, that restoration paid off for the lucky seller.
While a total of four movie cars were built, they weren’t all built for Goldfinger. The first two were built for the movie with one for driving and one for tight shots of all those wonderful Bond gadgets. They were intended as screen cars only and not to all those gadgets working indefinitely.
Once the movie was a success, the production company built two more for promotional use. Where the ones in the movie were for screen only, the two promotional versions were more durable.
There are 13 special effects modifications including revolving license plates, rear smoke-screen, and tire shredder. Sadly, the ejector seat is not a part of the package so cancel any thoughts you had of sending your enemies flying through the roof of the car.
This is the most expensive sale of a Bond car ever. The second most expensive Bond car was another one of the original four DB5s. It was sold in 2010 for $4.1 million. Suddenly, a run of the mill Aston Martin seems like a bargain.
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