THE BOND IS STRONG BETWEEN ASTON MARTIN AND CORGI

ON August 31st 2021, the Corgi team were invited to London to attend a very special event hosted by luxury British car maker Aston Martin. Corgi Brand Executive, David Mather, was there and shares the news..

Aston Martin had brought an impressive array of vehicles for the reveal, including four screen-used vehicles from No Time to Die – the Aston Martin V8 Vantage first seen in The Living Daylights, the Aston Martin DBS driven by new 00-agent Nomi, the staggeringly aggressive looking Aston Martin Valhalla, and of course, the Aston Martin DB5, but this time in battle-damaged guise with twin Gattling guns protruding from the headlights and dark scrapes covering both sides of the bodywork. But it was the large rectangular shape hidden underneath a large black sheet that is really of interest to collectors.

Beneath that sheet was an extremely rare and expensive vehicle indeed, presented in a unique form for the public to enjoy - an Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation Car worth over £2.5m, featuring an array of gadgets used onscreen by James Bond in the classic film. It was presented to the world in the way many of a certain age first encountered the car in reality – inside a giant recreation of the original Corgi Toys packaging that the iconic gold-coloured No 261 DB5 was first produced and sold in 1965.

This all nicely coincides with the imminent release by Corgi of its 261 tribute model No RT26101 in packaging that is more than a 'nod' to the original release. The new packaging has been designed from a scan of the original 261 packaging.

Back to matters at Battersea and sealed away in thick Perspex, with a custom lighting rig in the ceiling of the box, this incredible version of the Aston Martin DB5 was sited near Battersea Power station until September 30th 2021 for the public to visit and enjoy.

To get hold of your own example of the new DB5 release, go to Corgi’s website

or visit your preferred retailer to place a pre-order. ■