Aston Martin begins production of its £3.3m reborn DB5 Goldfinger classics

It’s the favourite James Bond car of millions of 007 fans, has entertained generations of children who played with their own treasured toy versions, and is arguably the most famous Aston Martin – if not car – in the world.

And today, more than half a century after the last one rolled off the production line, Aston Martin has begun production of an exclusive limited customer run of just 25 classic DB5s – each costing £3.3million – complete with most of the gadgets that made it famous when driven by Sean Connery in the movie Goldfinger.

The British brand made the announcement just days after it showed its former boss the ejector seat and promoted former Mercedes-AMG frontman Tobias Moers to 007 status.

With brutal timing, the start of production comes in the week that the company’s boss of six years, Dr Andy Palmer, who signed off the project, was himself unceremoniously dispatched via the corporate ‘ejector seat’ in a boardroom purge after Aston Martin’s share price collapsed.

Dubbed ‘the most famous car in the world’ fewer than 900 original DB5 saloons were built between 1963 and 1965 priced from £4,175.

The new cars, which won’t be road legal, will each take 4,500 hours to build – under strict social distancing and safety measures prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.

They will have a range of Goldfinger gadgets – specially recreated by Aston Martin engineers and Oscar-winning special effects guru Chris Corbould who has worked on more than a dozen Bond films. 

Toy firm Corgi’s version was a favourite of children – and of collectors today – though the gun-toting villain ejected through the roof was forever getting lost. 

And to the disappointment of many, a fully functioning ejector seat proved just too much for these £3.3million remakes. 

The nearest nod to it is a removable passenger seat roof panel. Machine guns and tyre-shredders will be ‘design features’ rather than working weapons.

And as it’s not legal to drive on the road, it is being aimed directly at wealthy collectors and enthusiasts.

Production of the reborn ‘DB5 Goldfinger Continuation’ cars begins today with ‘Job 1’ where it left off some 55 years after the last new DB5 left Aston Martin’s Newport Pagnell factory.

The company said it is ‘the first in a strictly limited run of 25 customer cars’ recreating ‘the most famous car in the world’ in association with EON Productions, makers of the James Bond films.

It noted: ‘The meticulous DB5 Goldfinger Continuation construction process – which takes around 4,500 hours per car – is being at Aston Martin’s globally renowned Heritage Division headquarters in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire. ‘

Exterior gadgets include: revolving number plates; simulated twin front machine guns; simulated tyre slasher; bullet proof rear shield; front and rear battering rams; a rear smoke screen delivery system; oil slick delivery system; and a removable passenger seat roof panel to suggest an ejector seat exit.

Gadgets inside the car include: a secret weapons and storage tray under the seat; a simulated radar screen tracker map; telephone in driver’s door; flip-top gear knob actuator button (for a notional ejector seat); an armrest and centre console hiding gadget switches; and a remote-control to activate gadgets.

All the rear-wheel drive DB5 Goldfinger Continuation cars will be available in just the original exterior Silver Birch paint.

The structure of the reborn cars is aluminium exterior body panels wrapped around an authentic DB5 mild steel chassis

The cars are powered by a 290bhp 4.0-litre naturally aspirated inline six-cylinder engine linked to a five-speed manual gearbox.

Aston Martin said: ‘By far the most famous of the original owners being the world’s best-known secret agent – James Bond – who first drove the car that is today inextricably linked with him in the 1964 film, Goldfinger.’

‘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. ‘

It is the latest project of Aston’s Continuation car programme which began in 2017 with the DB4 GT Continuation.

The firm said: ‘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 £2.75m, plus taxes.’

With VAT at 20 per cent, that totals £3.3million.

It added: ‘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. ‘ 

The DB5 has featured in six subsequent 007 films – Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre.

It is set to make another appearance in the next movie ‘No Time to Die’, delayed from spring because of the coronavirus pandemic.

There are plans for three more cars in addition to the 25 for customers: one for Bond movie makers EON Productions, one to remain with Aston Martin and a third to be auctioned for charity.

However Aston Martin stressed: ‘The car is not road legal. The fitment of gadgets is subject to final engineering confirmation and country-specific legislation.’

Heritage programme manager Clive Wilson said: ‘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, president of Aston Martin Works where the original and re-born DB5s said: ‘We are making, perhaps, some of the most desirable ‘toys’ ever built for 25 very lucky buyers worldwide. ‘

First deliveries of the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation to customers will commence in the second half of this year.