James Bond’s Aston Martin Going on Auction for an Estimated $5 Million
By timbaysinger • • Category: News & Noteworthy
RM Auctions will offer up an actual Aston Martin DB5 that Sean Connery drove while he was portraying Ian Flemming’s famous character, James Bond. The car, which was used in the movies “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball,” will be sold in October in London.
Estimated to receive over $5 million, this car is set to the exact specifications that the movie-version used. Featuring modifications that were conceived by Oscar-award-winning special effects expert John Stears, this is a vehicle that any Bond fanatic would be proud to own.
As if “Q” himself commissioned it, this authentic car comes with the full cadre of Bond gadgets, including machine guns, bullet-proof shield, revolving number plates, tracking device, removable roof panel, oil slick sprayer, nail spreader and smoke screen. All are controlled from factory installed toggles and switches hidden in the center arm-rest.
This iconic vehicle is one of only two original “007″ DB5s that were featured on screen with Connery in the two Bond movies. This model – whose UK registration number FMP 7B is well known around the world — is the only one remaining.
Aston Martin loaned the car to EON Productions for the filming of the two movies, and after undergoing a promotional tour, was returned to the Lagonda factory. American radio broadcaster Jerry Lee then convinced the factory to sell him the famous car for $12,000 in 1969, making him its only ex-factory owner. It has been rarely seen in public ever since.
Lee plans to use the proceeds from the sale to aid The Jerry Lee Foundation, a multi-national initiative dedicated to solving social problems associated with poverty, with an emphasis on crime prevention.
Partnering with Sotheby’s, the Aston Martin DB5 will be part of RM Auction’s annual “Automobiles of London” event at the Battersea Evolution, in London on October 27th. Prior to the sale, the car will make its 21st century debut at the Bond-themed Midsummer Classic/Thunderball concours and black-tie reception on June 26 at the Stoke Park Club, just outside of London.
-Affluent Page
