Aston Martin stunt car used in Bond blockbuster sells for £2.9m

A SPECIALLY built Aston Martin stunt car driven by Daniel Craig in the James Bond film No Time To Die has sold for more than £2.9 million.

The sale has raised £2,922,000 for good causes in a charity auction at Christie’s to celebrate 60 years of the James Bond films.

One of three special Aston Martin models included in the multi-millionpound charity auction, the replica DB5 donated by Aston Martin Lagonda was the star lot on the night. It accelerated beyond the auctioneer’s estimate of between £1.5 million and £2 million before being sold to a telephone bidder.

The Aston Martin DB5 stunt car is one of only eight built specifically for James Bond and is to date the only DB5 stunt car to be released for public sale by Aston Martin and EON Productions. The Silver Birch coloured DB5 stunt car, which was being sold as a lot in Christie’s Sixty Years of James Bond auction, was exclusively engineered and handcrafted for No Time To Die (2021). It even comes with replica machine guns.

All the DB5 stunt cars were modified in different ways for use, this car being one of a few to include the bespoke No Time To Die gadgets including a rotating digital number plate, retractable headlights, the aforementioned machine guns and firing prop bomblets. In the film, the DB5 stunt car features in an exciting opening chase sequence, driven by James Bond (Daniel Craig), with Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) at his side, through Matera, Italy.

The DB5 stunt car demonstrates its incredible dynamic capabilities as the pair drive at high speed through the town in an attempt to shake off their pursuers. The Matera chase sequence features heavily in No Time To Die, with James Bond deploying the gadgetladen motor’s hidden machine guns.

The proceeds of the DB5 auction will benefit the Prince’s Trust in its work with young people; The Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund in support of charities assisting serving and former members of the UK Intelligence Agencies; and three charities supporting serving and former members of the UK Special Forces.

Marek Reichman, executive vice president and chief creative officer of Aston Martin said: “Aston Martin is incredibly proud to be part of James Bond’s DNA and we are delighted to celebrate this 60th anniversary with the sale of a truly unique Aston Martin model that we created for No Time To Die. It is fantastic that the sale of this special car will now hugely benefit several good causes which are close to our heart, playing our own part in the longstanding tradition of the James Bond franchise supporting charitable causes.”

Attended by Bond Actors Dali Benssalah and Samantha Bond, the auction also saw the sale of a 1981 Aston Martin V8 which was driven by Daniel Craig as James Bond in No Time To Die. The iconic model, which was the fastest four-seat production car of its day and Britain’s first true ‘supercar,’ is similar to that used in the 1987 Bond film, The Living Daylights. Donated by EON Productions, the Aston Martin V8 fetched £630,000 to support the work of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

The auction also saw the sale of an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera 007 Edition, one of 25 examples created by Aston Martin to celebrate the car’s inclusion in No Time To Die. Featuring a unique plaque with etched signatures from producers Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli and actor Lashana Lynch, who drove the same Aston Martin model as Nomi in the film, the car raised £403,200 to support the Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales.

The live auction featured 25 lots comprising vehicles, watches, costumes and props many of which relate to the 25th Bond film, No Time To Die, with the final six lots offered representing each of the six actors who have played Bond.