Aston Martin will create 25 Goldfinger DB5s as part of its continuation projects, with these cars featuring working gadgets as seen in its six James Bond film appearances.
Three more cars in addition to the 25 will be created, with one being kept by Aston, one to go to Eon Productions (the firm behind the Bond film franchise) and another being auctioned for charity.
The gadgetry is being developed by Bond special effects supervisor Chris Corbould in collaboration with Aston’s Q bespoke department, having been officially sanctioned by Eon. They’ll be produced at Aston’s Newport Pagnell plant — the facility where the original DB5 was built.
The cars will be built to a specification true to that of the film car, including features such as revolving numberplates. Modifications over the original Bond DB5 are said to boost reliability and quality compared with the film props used on the original car.
Opinion: what it's like to drive James Bond's Aston Martin DB5
Delivery of the 25 cars starts at the end of 2019, with each going for £2.75 million plus tax, putting the UK price of the car at £3.3 million.
Aston boss Andy Palmer said: "To own an Aston Martin has long been an aspiration for James Bond fans, but to own a Silver Birch DB5, complete with gadgets and built to the highest standards in the very same factory as the original James Bond cars? Well, that is surely the ultimate collectors’ fantasy. The skilled craftspeople at Aston Martin Works and the expert special effects team from the James Bond films are about to make this fantasy real for 25 very lucky customers.”
Previously, Aston produced a DB4 continuation run of 25 cars, each sold for £1.5 million before local taxes. Jaguar Land Rover's Classics division has also carried out continuation projects, starting with a run of Jaguar D-Types built in 2014, while Lister built continuation series of its Knobbly and Costin racers.
Aston produced a DB10 in 2014 specifically for use in the Bond film Spectre. The car was never released to the public, with the road car line skipping from the DB9 to the Aston Martin DB11. The DB10's look was based on a design study for the new Aston Martin Vantage, and elements of it informed the final version of that car.
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This continuation stuff is
This continuation stuff is getting ridiculous. Not a fan (and I love DB5s). I was very optimistic when Andy Palmer took the helm. Not anymore. Off-the-shelf someone-else's (V8) engines, in-your-face designs replacing that perfect balance of sporty elegance, understatedness and the right amount of aggression, greatly over-styled interiors with mundane screens for instruments (rather than gorgeous aluminium gauges) and that AWFUL iPad stuck on the dash replacing beautifully-wrought uncluttered designs. It's one thing to "finish" an originally-planned production run, but this is going way too far.
This continuation stuff is
This continuation stuff is getting ridiculous. Not a fan (and I love DB5s). I was very optimistic when Andy Palmer took the helm. Not anymore. Off-the-shelf someone-else's (V8) engines, in-your-face designs replacing that perfect balance of sporty elegance, understatedness and the right amount of aggression, greatly over-styled interiors with mundane screens for instruments (rather than gorgeous aluminium gauges) and that AWFUL iPad stuck on the dash replacing beautifully-wrought uncluttered designs. It's one thing to "finish" an originally-planned production run, but this is going way too far.
One born ever minute
AM can sel the whole lot in less than half an hour.
As others have said, i'd have prefered a drivable, no-gadget car myself, but hey, if they can sell this they can make money, if they make money they stay in business, everybody ( -25 ) wins.
Good luck to them.