Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 production begins

Production of new Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 Continuation cars has started at the company’s historic Newport Pagnell site, 55 years after the last DB5 was built there.

4,500 hours of work – the Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5

Just 900 DB5 coupés were built 1963 and 1965, the most famous of which was the one driven by James Bond in the 1964 film, Goldfinger. The new DB5 Continuation car is the latest from the company’s Continuation car programme, which began in 2017 with the DB4 GT Continuation.

Each Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger continuation car is priced at £2.75m, plus taxes, and takes around 4,500 hours per car to build, using a blend of Sir David Brown-era classic craftsmanship, with the sympathetic application of modern engineering advancements and performance enhancements, alongside the integration of Goldfinger gadgets. Each one will be painted in the same Silver Birch colour as the original Goldfinger car.

Aston Martin DB5 – goldfinger Bond gadgets

These Bond-inspired gadgets include a rear smoke screen delivery system, rear simulated oil slick delivery system, revolving number plates front and rear with triple plates, simulated twin front machine guns, bullet resistant rear shield, battering rams front and rear, simulated tyre slasher, removable passenger seat roof panel (optional).

Inside, there’s 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.

As with the original DB5, aluminium exterior body panels are wrapped around a mild steel chassis structure. Under the bonnet there’s a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated inline six–cylinder engine with a six-plug head, three SU carburettors and oil cooler, producing around 290bhp. This is mated to a five-speed ZF manual transmission and a mechanical limited slip differential.

Servo-assisted hydraulic Girling–type steel disc brakes, unassisted rack and pinion steering, coil over spring and damper units with anti-roll bar at the front, and a live axle rear suspension with radius arms and Watt’s linkage, complete the package.

Paul Spires, president of Aston Martin Works, said: “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.”