Wheels-Near-U blog

As part of our new series, Movie Motors will look at some of the most renowned motor vehicles within movies. From Classic Cars that made the film classic to original concepts that rely on special effects. To begin this new series we will start with a James Bond Classic. The Aston Martin DB5, a stunning car brought to stardom by its appearances in James Bond films.The Aston Martin DB5 has managed to appear in 5 different James Bond films, namely: Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and the most recently produced Casino Royale. Driven by four different actors the car has been kitted out with a fairly substantial range of gadgetry throughout its film debuts, but in its latest outing the DB5 was a standard car that was won by Daniel Craig in a Poker game (Casino Royale.) This inclusion of the stock version of the car makes a kind backdrop for the introduction of James Bond’s latest car - the Aston Martin DBS.

First produced in 1963 the Aston Martin DB5 was essentially a DB4 with mechanical improvements such as a larger engine (increased in capacity from 3.7 litre to a 4.0 litre), 3 SU carburettors and the addition of a 5 speed gearbox. All in all it made for a 282 break horse power car capable of speeds up to 141 miles per hour.

As standard the Aston Martin DB5 came with reclining seats, electric windows, pile carpets and a fire extinguisher. Every model came with a 4 seat 2 door layout and the car was priced at £4562 (December 1963.)

Originally Ian Flemming (author of the James Bond books) had written that James Bond would drive an Aston Martin DB Mark III in Goldfinger, but as Aston Martin had the DB5 almost ready for launch they proposed to use that car instead. Only 2 cars were used in the original filming with a further two being used for publicity.

In the film Goldfinger (1964 starring Sean Connery) there were lots of gadgets added to the Aston Martin DB5, designed to help James Bond avoid mishaps. These were later comically re-engineered onto a rover on a top gear episode named “Bond Car on a Budget”. The DB5 also holds the record as the slowest car to have a Top Gear Power Lap.

Some of the gadgets and features added to the 1964 DB5 included:

• Forward Firing Browning .30 caliber automatic machine guns behind the cars front indicators
• Retractable blades in the tyre spinners
• Rising armored bullet-proof rear screen
• Radio telephone
• Radar scanner and hidden tracking screen
• Passenger ejector seat
• Oil slick spray from rear light cluster
• Caltrops from rear light cluster
• Smoke screen from exhausts
• Revolving number plates — “BMT 216A” UK, “4711-EA-62″ France, and “LU 6789″ Switzerland
• Front and rear extending rams
• Gun cabinet under driver’s seat

The DB5 will be remembered forever as a Bond car and is probably the beginning of a long line of Bond featured Aston Martins.

Want to see more of the Aston DB5? Try viewing our Movie Motors Gallery!