Aston Martin has announced that it will produce a series of 25 DB5 ‘Goldfinger’ continuation editions in a collaboration with EON Productions, the firm that produces the James Bond films.
Aston Martin Works will team up with EON Productions to build the special vehicles (finished in Silver Birch paint), each based on Bond’s legendary car from 1964. The Gaydon-based brand promises they will be “authentic reproductions” of the DB5 seen on screen, with some “sympathetic modifications to ensure the highest levels of build quality and reliability”.
This will include functioning gadgets, such as revolving numberplates, that were made famous in Goldfinger. The gadgets will be co-developed with Chris Corbould, the special effects supervisor from the James Bond films.
One car will go to EON, one to Aston Martin and another auctioned for charity, with the other 25 offered for sale for £2,75-million (that’s a little over R51-million!) plus taxes. Deliveries to customers are expected to kick off in 2020, but prospective buyers should note that the vehicles are not road legal.
After its appearance in Goldfinger, the DB5 featured in a further six James Bond movies: Thunderball (1965), GoldenEye (1995), Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015).
“The connection between Aston Martin and James Bond is something of which we are very proud and it is remarkable that the DB5 remains the definitive James Bond car after so many years,” said Andy Palmer, president and chief executive officer at Aston Martin.
“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,” he added.
