Aston Martin DB5 Production Resumes After 55 Years
Build work begins on DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars that will feature working Goldfinger gadgets developed with special effects Oscar winner.
Dubbed “the most famous car in the world” and renowned as being among the most desirable and sought-after classic Aston Martin models, the DB5 has become a byword for timeless style and sports car desirability. Fewer than 900 saloon examples were built by the brand between 1963 and 1965, with by far the most famous of the original owners being the worldâs best-known secret agent â James Bond â who first drove the car that is today inextricably linked with him in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.
Now, 55 years after the last new DB5 rolled elegantly off the production line at Aston Martinâs then global manufacturing base in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, work is once again underway there on a strictly limited number of new DB5 models. Created in association with the producers of the James Bond films, EON Productions, and featuring a broad suite of working gadgets first seen on screen in the 1964 film, the Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars are history in the making.
The latest in Aston Martinâs phenomenally successful Continuation car program which began in 2017 with the DB4 GT Continuation the new DB5 models represent among the most valuable new cars yet brought to market by the British luxury brand. Each DB5 Goldfinger continuation car is priced at nearly $3.5 million.
‘Obviously we have not made a new DB5 for more than 50 years, so to be involved in the building of these cars is something I’m sure all of us will be telling our grandkids about!’
The meticulous DB5 Goldfinger Continuation construction process â which takes around 4,500 hours per car â is being undertaken at Aston Martinâs globally renowned Heritage Division headquarters in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. Now the largest, best equipped and most knowledgeable Aston Martin restoration center in the world, the invaluable and highly specialist skills nurtured at Aston Martin Works are perfectly suited to the brandâs celebrated Continuation projects.
Each of the 25 new cars is being built to the highest possible quality using a blend of Sir David Brown-era old-world craftsmanship, with the sympathetic application of modern engineering advancements and performance enhancements, alongside the integration of cutting-edge gadgets developed in association with Chris Corbould OBE, the special effects supervisor who has worked on more than a dozen Bond films.
The list of Bond-inspired gadgets includes the following features, all familiar to viewers of the classic 1964 big screen hit.
Exterior:
- Rear smoke screen delivery system
- Rear simulated oil slick delivery system
- Revolving number plates front and rear (triple plates)
- Simulated twin front machine guns
- Bullet resistant rear shield
- Battering rams front and rear
- Simulated tire slasher
- Removable passenger seat roof panel (optional equipment)
Interior:
- Simulated radar screen tracker map
- Telephone in driverâs door
- Gear knob actuator button
- Armrest and center console-mounted switchgear
- Under-seat hidden weapons/storage tray
- Remote control for gadget activation
All the new cars are meticulously detailed authentic reproductions of the DB5 seen on screen, with some sympathetic modifications and enhancements to ensure the highest levels of build quality and reliability. All the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars are being built to one exterior color specification â Silver Birch paint â just like the original.
The cars feature original DB5 styled aluminum exterior body panels wrapped elegantly around an authentic DB5 mild steel chassis structure. Under the bonnet, thereâs a 4.0-liter naturally aspirated inline six-cylinder engine with a six-plug head, three SU carburetors, and oil cooler, thatâs capable of generating in the order of 290 bhp. This is mated to a five-speed ZF manual transmission in the rear-wheel-drive DB5, which also features a mechanical limited-slip differential.
Servo-assisted hydraulic Girling-type steel disc brakes, rack and pinion steering â which does not feature assistance â and a suspension set-up comprising coil-over spring and damper units with anti-roll bar at the front, and a live axle rear suspension with radius arms and Wattâs linkage, complete the dynamic package.
âSeeing the first customer car move painstakingly through the intricate production process we have created really is quite a thrill,” said Heritage Program Manager Clive Wilson, who is one of those most closely involved in the process of bringing the new DB5 Goldfinger Continuation car into production.
âObviously 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 Martinâs history, is something Iâm sure all of us will be telling our grandkids about!â
âWe are making, perhaps, some of the most desirable âtoysâ ever built for 25 very lucky buyers worldwide,” said Paul Spires, President of Aston Martin Works, where the original DB5 was built and the new cars are also being created.
âCreating 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,â added Spires.
First deliveries of the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation will take place later this year.
Photos: Aston Martin