Aston Martin details new DB5 Goldfinger

Aston Martin has detailed the return of the DB5, more than 50 years since the British car-maker wrapped up production of what many consider ‘the most famous car in the world’.

Made famous for its role in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, the Aston Martin DB5 is now being reborn – for a cool £2.75 million ($A5m) a pop, mind you – complete with working Goldfinger gadgets co-developed by Aston Martin and special effects technician Chris Corbould.

The DB5 project is part of Aston Martin’s Continuation car program, which begun in 2017 with the DB4 GT Continuation.

Aston Martin says a strictly limited number of just 25 cars will be built at the brand’s Heritage Division headquarters in Buckinghamshire, where ‘Job 1’ is currently underway.

Each example takes 4500 hours to complete, and is fitted with ‘Bond-inspired’ gadgets including revolving number plates, a bullet-resistant windscreen, simulated tyre slasher and a rear smoke screen delivery system.

Designed with the help of Corbould, who’s worked on more than a dozen Bond movies, other features include a rear simulated oil slick delivery system, front and rear battering rams and an optional removable passenger seat roof panel.

Inside the cabin, each DB5 will get a driver’s door telephone, under-seat weapons/storage tray, remote control for gadget activation, armrest and centre console-mounted switchgear, gear knob actuator button and a simulated radar screen tracker map.

But alas, all that gear means they won’t be road legal – at least in most countries.

Every example will be painted like the original, in Silver Birch, as well as being powered by a naturally-aspirated 4.0-litre inline six-cylinder engine paired to a five-speed ZF manual transmission sending power to the rear wheels.

It’ll have rack-and-pinion steering with no power assistance and a suspension set-up that uses coil-over spring/damper units with an anti-roll bar up front and a live-axle rear-end.

Heritage Programme Manager Clive Wilson says it’s a thrill to see the first customer car move through the intricate production process.

“Obviously 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,” he said.

Aston Martin Lagonda, which this week confirmed Mercedes-AMG chief Tobias Moers will replace Sir Andy Palmer as its CEO, says first deliveries of the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation will commence in the second half of 2020.