Aston Martin's Newport Pagnell Heritage Division has restarted DB5 production after more than 50 years with construction of first Goldfinger Continuation car. 25 examples of the 007-spec DB5 are to be built, each with 14 specific modifications so they're perfect replicas of the car used in the 1964 movie. The price is £2.75 million before taxes, which equates to £3.3m in the UK. But nothing James Bond has ever come cheap.
As you may remember from Aston's first announcement of the run back in 2018, none of the Goldfinger Continuations will be road legal, meaning that Aston Martin Works can equip as many film-specific features as it likes. They include rear smoke screen and simulated oil slick delivery systems, revolving number plates and 'simulated' front machine guns. Inside, the Q-inspired additions include a phone in the driver's door, gear knob actuator button and under-seat weapons storage tray. Chris Corbould OBE, the special effects supervisor for more than a dozen Bond films, was on hand to ensure accuracy.
Also contributing to the car's price tag (barring the obvious value of such a substantial Bond link) is meticulous attention to detail. Like Aston's earlier continuation models, including the DB4 GT and DB4 Zagato, these Goldfinger DB5s will be built using original production methods alongside the latest in modern technology. This is to ensure upmost accuracy but also guarantees better-than-original build quality, so the exclusively Silver Birch machines all behave like an original - minus the period-correct inconsistencies.
Each DB5 gets aluminium body panels wrapped around a mild steel chassis. Power comes from a 4.0-litre naturally aspirated inline six-cylinder with a six-plug head, fed by three SU carburettors and kept to temp via an external oil cooler. The motor generates 286hp, as it did back in '64, and it drives the rear wheels via a five-speed ZF manual transmission and mechanical limited slip differential. The original was good for a 0-60mph dash of 8.1 seconds; expect the same - if not better - here.
Stopping power is provided by servo-assisted hydraulic disc brakes, while the front wheels are steered via an unassisted rack and pinion system. The chassis uses coil over springs and dampers with an anti-roll bar at the front, while at the back is a live axle with radius arms and Watt's linkage, providing the DB5 with a balance to mimic that swinging sixties (in the driving sense) angle of attack through corners. It's all finished off (still driving sense) with period correct boots, albeit made with a modern compound.
Each car is being built with Bond's EON Productions and takes 4,500 hours to make, with the first due to be completed and delivered in the second half of 2020. Paul Spires, president of Aston Martin Works where both the original and new DB5s were built, said his division is "making, perhaps, some of the most desirable 'toys' ever built for 25 very lucky buyers worldwide". We're inclined to agree. He added that working with EON and Corbould is "something truly unique and a real career highlight for everyone involved here at Aston Martin Works". We're certainly jealous of that. Although not as much as we are of the people who can actually afford one.
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