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One of three surviving genuine 007 Aston Martin DB5 has been sold at auction for a record-breaking $6.3m (£5.3m) – making it the most valuable DB5 ever.
Dubbed ‘the world’s most famous car’, it went under the hammer at RM Sotheby’s Monterey auction and had been expected to fetch between $4m-$6m.
The automotive icon from 1965 comes complete with a Browning .30 calibre machine gun hidden beneath each headlight, wheel-hub mounted tyre-slashers, smoke screen dispensers, revolving licence plates and a passenger-seat ejection system.
Commissioned by EON Productions and fitted with Q-Branch specifications, the car is one of two cars that went on American promotional tours in 1965.
Following the tour, the two cars were no longer required as the next two Bond films featured newer models so both DB5s were quietly offered for sale in 1969.
They were bought by well-known collector Anthony (now Lord) Bamford. He then sold DB5/2008/R to B.H. Atchley, the owner of the Smokey Mountain Car Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
The Aston Martin was featured as the museum’s centerpiece, remaining in a pristine state of display for 35 years, receiving regular start-ups for exercise.
In 2006, RM Sotheby’s (previously RM Auctions) offered the car for public sale, in a largely unrestored state.
Since that time, a well-documented, no-expense spared restoration by Switzerland’s esteemed Roos Engineering was completed.
Roos Engineering is one of 13 specialist facilities whom Aston Martin have appointed as official Heritage Specialists. Not only were the chassis and body completely refinished to proper standards, but all 13 of the John Stears-designed Bond modifications were properly refurbished to function as originally built.
“We are beyond thrilled with tonight’s fantastic result and proud to have set a new record for the most valuable DB5 sold at auction” said Barney Ruprecht of RM Sotheby’s.
“Beyond this new auction record, the enormous amount of interest in the car and excitement surrounding it ahead of the auction solidifies its status as the ‘most famous car in the world’.”
