The Aston Martin DB5 is back

| 28 May 2020
Classic & Sports Car – The Aston Martin DB5 is back

Aston Martin is once again building DB5s, as production of the Goldfinger Continuation cars gets under way at the marque’s Newport Pagnell base.

It’s 55 years since DB5 production ceased, but the latest specimens to roll out of Aston Martin Works will have a few features the originals did without, due to the tie-up with EON Productions, the makers of the James Bond films.

That’s right, coronavirus might’ve pushed back the release of the latest 007 movie, No time to die, but it’s not stopping this limited-edition, 25-car run, as work begins on the first, ‘Job 1’.

Classic & Sports Car – The Aston Martin DB5 is back
Classic & Sports Car – The Aston Martin DB5 is back

Unsurprisingly, each DB5 inspired by the 1964 film isn’t going to be cheap.

But for your £2.75m, plus taxes, you’ll get a car fitted with fully functional Goldfinger gadgets developed by Aston Martin and Oscar-winning special-effects guru Chris Corbould OBE, including:

  • Smoke-screen and simulated oil-slick delivery systems
  • Revolving front and rear numberplates
  • Simulated twin front machine guns
  • A bullet-resistant rear shield
  • Front and rear battering rams
  • A simulated tyre slasher
  • A removable passenger-seat roof panel (optional)

Classic & Sports Car – The Aston Martin DB5 is back
Classic & Sports Car – The Aston Martin DB5 is back

And that’s just outside. Among the goodies inside are a driver’s door-mounted phone, an under-seat hidden weapons/storage tray, a simulated radar screen tracker map and, of course, remote controls to let you operate those exterior gadgets.

Naturally, all 25 Goldfinger Continuation models will be finished in Silver Birch, while under the bonnet there’s a c290bhp 4.0-litre straight-six, mated to a five-speed ZF manual transmission.

These cars aren’t road legal, but packing that list of gadgets, that’s possibly just as well.

Classic & Sports Car – The Aston Martin DB5 is back

Heritage Programme Manager Clive Wilson is one of those most closely involved in the process of bringing the new DB5 Goldfinger Continuation car into production.

“Seeing the first customer car move painstakingly through the intricate production process we have created really is quite a thrill,” he said. 

“Obviously we have not, as a business, made a new DB5 for more than 50 years, so to be involved in the building of these cars, which will go on to form part of Aston Martin’s history, is something I’m sure all of us will be telling our grandkids about!”


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