GOLDFINGER DB5
Fancy owning a James Bond Aston Martin DB5 loaded with a bunch of Goldfinger gadgets? Pay attention, 007, and find out how you can
Recreated at Newport Pagnell – with gadgets
ASTON MARTIN’S DB5 is possibly the most iconic car in cinematic history. Its appearance in Goldfinger captivated a generation of schoolboys and forever associated it with MI6’s wayward secret agent. Forget the 1968 Ford Mustang GT driven by Steve McQueen in Bullitt, or the DeLorean DMC-12 that went Back To The Future, the DB5 became so popular that it’s still the best-selling Corgi Toys car of all time.
James Bond was handed the keys to his heavily modified DB5 in 1964. The ingenious techies at Q Branch had equipped it with an array of ‘special’ features, ensuring 007 would always enjoy the upper hand in a car chase. Q’s options list included machine guns borrowed from a Spitfire fighter, pop-out slashers for shredding the tyres of pursuing villains, plus that ingenious ejector seat – perfect for disposing of unwanted passengers.
Daniel Craig will drive four different Aston Martins in his final outing as 007, the delayed No Time To Die, now due for release next April. And it’s a mark of the DB5’s enduring popularity that the car will play a leading role again – with actress Léa Seydoux in the passenger seat. Furthermore, to celebrate Bond’s 25th film appearance, Aston Martin has just built its first DB5 in over 55 years.
The Goldfinger Continuation was created with the blessing of Bond film-maker EON Productions, and handcrafted at Aston’s original workshop and spiritual home in Newport Pagnell. Built to the exact specification of 007’s tooled-up screen car, only 25 will be made, each requiring 4500 man-hours to painstakingly create. The only difference is that, at £3.2 million, this one costs considerably more than a Corgi toy.
Because of all the gadgets and gizmos, this is one Aston Martin that can’t be driven on the road. However, for a couple of hours the company has handed over the keys to a deactivated prototype and given me a licence to thrill. What could possibly go wrong?
Hurtling across the Berkshire countryside, I’m perched on an enormous leather seat and confronted
by an array of chrome dials. The only features missing are a Shirley Bassey soundtrack and a beautiful leading lady.
This is about as close as I’m likely to get to the starring role, although at 5ft 9in tall I’m surprised to find my head touching the rooflining. How tall is Connery? It’s a compact cabin but no matter: the 4.0-litre twin-cam straight-six is a joy to wind up. It sends 290bhp to the back wheels, with a mechanical limited-slip differential enhancing the whole Bond-like experience, in a tail-happy kind of way.
Behind me, twin exhaust pipes emit a bass note that resonates through the car and into my body via a wood-rim steering wheel. Admiring the view across that curvaceous bonnet from the driver’s seat remains one of motoring’s great pleasures. Despite the gadgets, there are no driver aids, no power steering, no air-con – it’s just you and the road. The old Aston is more cruiser than sports car, perfect for touring down to Monte, or a weekend jaunt to a Scottish lair. Not bad for a car designed when JFK was still alive and the Profumo affair was making headlines.
I was born in 1963, the same year as the DB5, and we both have our quirks by modern standards. Its Germanbuilt, five-speed ZF gearbox is claimed by Aston
‘Despite the gadgets there are no driver aids, no power steering, no air-con – it’s just you and the road’
to be the only part of the DB5 Continuation not manufactured in Britain, and it’s a delight to use, if impossible to hurry. As for the brakes, higher speeds require a degree of telepathy. And I’ve been enjoying the drive so much that I’d almost forgotten about the gadgets stashed around me: the telephone hidden in the armrest, the rotating numberplates, the (simulated) radar screen tracker.
Bond could see off the bad guys with an armoury of weapons. Among them is a trailing smoke screen, an oil slick that could be pumped onto the road – now environmentally friendly water in this car – and a ballistic shield that pops up from the bootlid for dodging bullets. The battering rams that project from the bumpers would be useful for parking in modern-day London.
Then a white van pulls out sharply in front. My thumb pops open the lid of the gearstick knob to reveal a red button. My digit is hovering over the machine-gun trigger, ready to fire the brace of Browning machine guns that appear from behind the front indicators… The DB5’s antiquated crossply tyres are screeching in protest but the van is clearly in my sights, so I could operate the battering ram but instead I take the shot… Ah, if only.
‘That’s one reason why the cars with fully operational functions are not road legal,’ laughs Paul Squires, president of Aston Martin Works and the man with the idea of creating a ‘new’ DB5. ‘We could see wannabe 007s getting up to all sorts of mischief with the gadgets.’
As you might expect, every car is painted in 007 Silver Birch and the only options are left- or right-hand drive, and whether or not to opt for a removable panel above the passenger seat. The opening replicates the roof exit for Bond’s ejector seat but – for health and safety reasons, of course – there’s no ejector mechanism. Shame, really. And, sadly, the smoke dispensed from the rear pipes in the new Continuation isn’t what it seems either. It’s actually a cloud of vapour similar to what people puff on in e-cigarettes. What a way for any villain to die: death by menthol.
This is the third Continuation model after the DB4GT and DB4GT Zagato, and without doubt it’s the most controversial. While I’d be happy to sacrifice all of the Bond gadgets to purr along the open road playing 007 in any DB5, you can bet that all 25 of these cars will find a home, even at that exalted price and without the ability to be driven in public – in Bond’s home nation, at least.