‘Your Aston, Mr Bond’
A one-owner DB5, delivered new to a certain Mr Bond in 1963… Robert Coucher takes this rarity for a spin
One owner from new. Not many 57-year-old classic cars can claim this special rarity, and certainly there can be only a handful that remain in near-perfect condition. With a comprehensive maintenance history, and only 81,488 miles showing on its Smiths odometer, this 1963 Aston Martin DB5 was purchased new on 3 December 1963 and still has only one name listed in the logbook: Bond… Mr Ian Bond.
‘I went along to the ’63 Motor Show in the October, saw the beautiful Aston Martin DB5 and I ordered this one, number DB5/1330/R, in dark blue with a red interior, taking delivery in December. I always used to drive fast in those days and, having moved down from Scotland in my youth, we lived in Hampshire on the superb A30 road that runs all the way down to Salisbury and on to the West country – so I’m afraid I did get pulled over for speeding on a few occasions.
‘My family was terribly conservative and old-fashioned, so I thought it best to keep the Aston secret as they would have been appalled that I’d bought such a car in my early 20s. So I kept it at my great friend Eddie Robinson’s Too Goods Garage down the road in Sutton Scotney. I’d ring him up and ask him to get it ready, then tell the family I was off on a bicycle ride and cycle down to Eddie’s and collect the Aston. I only let the family know about the car some six years after I was married.’ So far, so Bond.
‘The whole James Bond interest came later, when the Aston DB5 was featured in the film Goldfinger, a year after I’d bought mine. But, yes, I did on occasion get into a spot of trouble. After the film came out I was taking a girl from Oxford University out in the Aston when we were pulled over on the bypass by two policemen. One was very large and when he walked up to the car all I could see was his stomach through the window. “You have been doing 85mph for the last 15 minutes around Oxford. Name?” So, I replied: “Bond”. “This is no time to give a frivolous answer to a serious question!” he retorted with some indignation. My passenger got a fit of the giggles, which didn’t help. Fortunately, I got off that one… and later played golf with Ian Fleming.’
There were adventures further afield, too. ‘Initially I used the DB5 regularly and took it all over Europe, including skiing with Jochen Rindt [whom he had met on a previous skiing trip] to Kitzbuhel, Austria. We finished our run and he had a BMW in the car park. The roads were totally iced over so he gave me an excellent demonstration of how to drive fast on sheet ice. We became good friends and he gave me a steering wheel, which I fitted to the Aston. The original wheel has now been refitted and is virtually brand new because I hardly used it – but I’ll be keeping Jochen’s memento. As well as skiing trips I used the Aston to follow my family friend Piers Courage around Europe, watching him race in the F1 championships – his wife, Lady Sarah Courage, is godmother to one of my children. In those days you could drive as fast as you cared and, in this respect, the DB5 was an excellent grand tourer, regularly cruising at over 130mph. It all seemed very Jet Set.’
Clearly this Aston Martin DB5 has lived a charmed life. It has always been garaged and has a detailed service history. A bill from Aston Martin dated 1969 shows a comprehensive refresh that cost £567, which was a fortune in those days.
Mr Bond travelled the world, specifically to America and Australia, to seek his fortune, which he evidently found. He returned to England and bought a derelict and bleak estate in the Cotswolds in 1973. Since then, he and his wife have turned its gardens into some of the most beautiful in the country, with languid vistas and undulating landscape. The gardens include a magnificent arboretum of walnut trees that now houses the National Collection, comprising more than 170 cultivars and 14 species. The walled gardens on this working estate are breathtaking and often feature in magazines, but, most importantly for the Aston, I spy the dry and protective garage where it has been housed for the past 47 years. It has been used sparingly while Mr Bond concentrated on horticulture, but has always been wellmaintained and ready to go. Today it is in impeccable order.
‘Clearly this DB5 has lived a charmed life. It has always been garaged and has a detailed service history’
The moment you glimpse the DB5 you can tell it’s special. The aluminium coachwork, finished in dark blue, looks factory-fresh, with no ripples or signs of a hard life. Shutlines are nearly all straight and accurate; only the bonnet’s nearside edge could do with a tweak. Gently tinted windows veil the rich scarlet Connolly leather upholstery, which looks plump and supple and emits a lovely aroma. The car was the subject of a full refurbishment 18 years ago at the respected Aston Engineering in Derby, where the engine and suspension were rebuilt to original spec and it received a full repaint in its original hue, with the front seats reupholstered and some carpeting replaced.
So, 288 GXH is not quite concours, but it is totally stock and in absolutely fine condition, never having been involved in an accident and never having gone through any ‘banger’ period in its life. Neither has it been passed around skinflint owners, an ignominy that many examples of this marque have suffered.
Parked amid the lush walnut trees, the DB looks expensive. That quality is immediately evident in the elegant yet discreet Touring of Milan coachwork, the lines of which are understated and subtle. Thank goodness it’s not another Silver Birch cliché, but if your name is Bond, why bother! The wire wheels are painted in silver and not blingy chrome, another blessing. Brightwork is subdued, with just bumpers and a chrome flash on each front flank. The twin exhausts angling out of the nearside rear are a master-stroke.
The DB5 evolved out of the preceding DB4, with the Vantage-spec 3.7-litre double-overhead-cam straight-six enlarged to 4.0 litres, producing a healthy 282bhp on its three SU carburettors. This being an early car, it has the rare four-speed gearbox with overdrive option, which was soon replaced with a five speed ZF ’ box. The overdrive is operated by a dash-mounted flick-switch, which is very sharp in operation no matter how you try to modulate the way in which it cuts in by easing the throttle. In this guise the Aston promises a top speed of 145mph, with the 0-60mph dash dispatched in eight seconds.
Mr Bond is very private, and I can tell he is not that keen to divulge much personal information. He also looks distinctly uncomfortable about letting a stranger loose in his very personal Aston Martin. I totally understand but explain that you, the reader, need to learn how the car feels, smells and performs, and suggest he first takes me out for a recce drive around the lanes before I take over.
Goodness, Mr Bond doesn’t spare the horses. Soon we are in overdrive and pressing on smartish. I observe that he has a close attachment to this beautiful car, which has been
part of his life for half a century, and his obvious enjoyment while blasting through the beautiful Cotswold countryside is tinged with poignancy. Unfortunately the time has come when he has to let it go.
The Aston Martin DB5 is of wieldy dimensions. By today’s standards it is slim, yet still it has a commanding presence. The doors are a good size, so slipping into the very comfortable driver’s seat requires no contortions, unlike those a Jaguar E-type forces. The uncluttered exterior lines continue through into the interior, where the dashboard is a simple black-painted affair untroubled by ‘lashings of walnut’ but stuffed full of lovely Smiths instruments, gauges and heavily chromed heater, cooling and carb mixture slides. The new-looking wood-rimmed, three-spoke steering wheel, with its eye-catching aquamarine boss, is ideally placed and offers silky fingertip control, while 360º visibility out of the 2+2 glasshouse is panoramic, even if the rear seats are really just occasional, only really suitable for very small children or expensive soft luggage.
The all-alloy DOHC lump, which looks huge when you lift the delicate bonnet, fires smartly at the turn of the ignition key. I must say, I love smooth SU carbs and a set of three is especially impressive, an ensemble that matches the nature of a long-stroke British six. Release the fly-off handbrake on your right, the clutch goes down lightly, and the gearlever requires a long lateral push to the left then up to engage first gear. The 1500kg Aston eases off on its ample torque and soon shows that the shift to second should be done slowly, as the synchromesh is somewhat tardy, but the rest of the upchanges are fine, even if the ’box is notchy, mechanical-feeling and wide of throw. So what? Just drive around it and keep the shifts relaxed.
On bumpy and broken country lanes the DB5 shows its breeding. The suspension is absorbent and, running on 185 x 15 Avon radials, it handles the rough ridges with aplomb. But most impressive is the total lack of any clonking or jarring from the suspension. The car has a solid rear axle, but you’d never know it thanks to its sophisticated Watt’s linkage and radius arms keeping everything well tied down. It does not pitch under braking, and lean into the corners is minimal, thanks to the front anti-roll bar.
The rack-and-pinion steering remains sharp yet free of any harsh kickback, while the ride is superb and the handling accurate – this is a balanced and responsive motor
‘The steering remains sharp yet free of kickback, while the ride is superb and the handling accurate’
car. Initial driving feedback complements the look of the Aston: quality. Well-oiled is the impression given by the mechanicals, which feel beautifully hewn, balanced and weighted. Meaty is too strong a word but the Aston is certainly analogue where the clutch, brakes and steering are concerned, all requiring a similar level of seat-of-the-pants input, which can be imparted to the finest degree.
The back-lanes of the Cotswolds are not enough for this grand tourer. In overdrive it’s doing 60mph at just 2000rpm, so it’s time to find a fast dual-carriageway. The road opens up, so I drop down to third in the now warm but much-maligned David Brown gearbox – unjustifiably so in my opinion, having enjoyed this one – and let’s see if the Aston can walk the torque. With smooth pick-up, the lusty six revs eagerly and the relatively light
Superleggera body hunkers down for a sprint. The Aston moves swiftly, remaining taut and sharp as the speedo needle rotates inextricably towards top speed.
Confident, controlled, refined, capable but also with a bit of old-fashioned fun thrown in, this Aston Martin DB5 is a unique example of the breed. It has been cherished by only one attentive custodian all its life – you can tell – and it needs nothing other than a good shake and stir. Well done, Mr Bond, you have delivered for Great Britain.
THANKS TO Mr Bond and to Graeme Hunt Ltd, London, where the Aston is for sale: graemehunt.com.
‘The back-lanes of the Cotswolds are not enough for this grand tourer. It’s time to find a fast dual-carriageway’