You can play James Bond with an opriginal Aston martin DB5 Bond car - if you have a spare $5 million.
One of the original James Bond Aston Martin DB5 cars – FMP 7B – is being auctioned by R.M. Auctions at their ‘Automobiles of London’ sale in October. Expected to fetch over $5 million.
Maybe it’s my age – maybe it’s just a boy thing – but if ever I think of a ‘James Bond’ car it’s the Aston Martin DB5, complete with machine guns, bullet-proof shield, revolving number plates, tracking device, removable roof panel, oil slick sprayer, nail spreader and smoke screen.
Sadly, the closest I’ve ever come to owning a James Bond DB5 was the toy car I had as a child. But that got played with, so even if I still had it – which I don’t – it would be worth nothing. Unlike one of just two original DB5s used in Goldfinger and Thunderball – and the only Bond DB5 still remaining – which carries an estimate of $5 million as it heads for R.M. Auctions ‘Automobiles of London’ sale in October.
This particular DB5 – reg no. FMP 7B – was loaned to EON productions for filming and then went back to Aston Martin where it was subsequently sold to Jerry Lee – an American radio guy from Philadelphia – who paid the princely sum of $12,000 – and has owned it ever since.
Having been a static display at Jerry’s home for forty years the DB5 needed some TLC – which it’s had – and is in terrific condition (certainly compared to my toy DB5s). Prior to the sale the car will make an appearance at the Stoke Park Club, where Bond fans will remember Goldfinger’s game of golf with Bond and Oddjob’s bowler hat slicing the head off a statue.
A piece about an R.M. Auctions wouldn’t be complete without a quote from its European boss, Max Girardo. Max said:
“Like ‘Q’ , we never joke about our work, which is why RM is consistently entrusted with the sale of the world’s most significant collector cars like the REAL 007 Aston Martin DB5 movie car. RM is known for world-record-setting results and we expect nothing less for 007’s iconic DB5.”
We think Max may have rehearsed the quote.
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