Aston Martin Begins Reproduction Of The DB5; 55 Years Since Its Original Run
by Heirul KamelThe Aston Martin DB5 is one of the most legendary and iconic vehicles to be made famous by the silver screen. Specifically, its shot to stardom was thanks to its inclusion in the 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger. In a surprising turn of events, Aston Martin has announced that the car has recently entered production yet again, about 55 years since its original run ended.
However, that doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing a large number of brand new DB5 cars cruising around the streets. The car’s brief comeback is part of Aston Martin’s “Continuation” project that aims to reproduce a limited number of highly in-demand legacy cars. Others included in this project are the DB4 and DB4 GT Zagato models.
The DB5’s reproduction was initially announced a couple of years back, with plans to only build 28 units of the car. The first 25 of those will be made available to buyers, two units are to be kept by the automaker and James Bond film’s production studio EON, and the last unit is to be auctioned off for charity.
The Aston Martin DB5 reproduction will not be your run-of-the-mill model, by the way. To be exact, the models that are in production right now are based on the actual Goldfinger version of the car. That’s right – All 28 cars will have operational spy gadgets that were used by Bond in the film. Well… not all of them, unfortunately.
To keep things kosher, gadgets like the oil dispenser and other weapon-based functions are excluded or simulated. Instead, the reproduction DB5s will retain the revolving license plate, bullet-proof rear shield, battering rams, radar screen, under-seat weapons storage tray, and retractable machine guns.
Again, as a gentle reminder, these gadgets are merely props. The only harmful thing you can do with the aforementioned weapons is hurting another fan’s feelings for not being able to own a fully functional Goldfinger-based Aston Martin DB5. And no, there are no ejection seats as per the movie either.
Each of the first 25 units of the Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger edition are priced at GBP2.75 million (~RM14.7 million) and will commence deliveries later this year. Amusingly enough, the automaker importantly notes that this reproduction model is not road legal, and added that the fitment of gadgets is subject to final engineering confirmation and country-specific legislation.
Anyone fancy a RM14.7 million, full-sized and fully functional toy car in their movie prop collection? I would… if I had the money for it.
(Source: Aston Martin)