Production has restarted on the Aston Martin DB5, fully 55 years after the last of the original examples rolled off the line in the UK, back in 1965. These are the Continuation specials, which ape the most famous DB5 of all: James Bond's car in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.
Full array of secret agent gadgets
The Aston Martin DB5 Continuation run of 25 cars combines the elegant craftsmanship of the original production batch of fewer than 900 cars (1963-1965) with all of the gadgets that 007's car had in the legendary Bond film; this is because EON Productions, the company behind the James Bond movie series, has been involved in the creation of the Continuation models. Each one will cost £2.75 million (around €3.1m on a direct exchange), plus local taxes on top of that, but the fitment of the gadgetry means they won't be road-legal - they're strictly toys for private usage and/or display.
Each DB5 Goldfinger Continuation takes around 4,500 man-hours and they are all being built at Aston Martin's Heritage Division HQ in the marque's historic home of Newport Pagnell, rather than at the main facility in Gaydon. While each of the Astons will be built according to the Sir David Brown-era principles, the sympathetic application of modern engineering and performance enhancements will be added to make the DB5s easier to drive. And Aston's Heritage engineers will have to incorporate the gadgets developed with Chris Corbould OBE, the special effects supervisor who has worked on many of the Bond films over the years, into the build process as well.
Just to clarify, every Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation will include, on the outside: a rear smoke-screen delivery system; a rear simulated oil-slick delivery system; revolving number plates, front and rear (triple plates); simulated twin front machine guns; a bullet-resistant rear shield; battering rams front and rear; a simulated tyre slasher; a removeable passenger seats roof panel (optional equipment); and, on the inside, a simulated radar-screen tracker map; a telephone in the driver's door; a gear knob actuator button; armrest and centre-console-mounted switchgear; under-seat hidden weapons/storage tray; and a remote control for gadget activation. All owners need now is a black-tie dinner jacket and a Walther PPK, and the feeling of actually being MI6's most lethal (fictional) agent will be complete.
'Most desirable toys'
The DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars will all be finished in Silver Birch paint and feature aluminium exterior body panels around an authentic mild-steel chassis. Under the bonnet is a 4.0-litre straight-six engine with three SU carburettors and an oil cooler, which makes around 295hp. Power goes to the rear wheels through a five-speed ZF manual gearbox and a mechanical limited-slip differential, while there's unassisted rack-and-pinion steering and servo-assisted hydraulic Girling-type steel disc brakes. The suspension is coilover spring-and-damper units with an anti-roll bar at the front and a live axle at the back with radius arms and Watt's linkage.
Heritage Programme manager Clive Wilson, one of the people most closely involved in the process of bringing the new DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars into production, said: "Seeing the first customer car move painstakingly through the intricate production process we have created really is quite a thrill. 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!"
Paul Spires, the president of Aston Martin Works where the original DB5 was built and the new cars are also being created, added: "We are making, perhaps, some of the most desirable 'toys' ever built for 25 very lucky buyers worldwide. Creating the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars and working with EON Productions and special effects supervisor, Chris Corbould, is something truly unique and a real career highlight for everyone involved here at Aston Martin Works."
First deliveries of the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation to customers will commence in the second half of 2020.