ASTON MARTIN DB5

The 1963 Aston Martin DB5 was an improved DB4. The DB series was named after David Brown (the head of Aston Martin from 1947–1972).

The DB5 is famous for being the first and most recognised James Bond car. It has been featured in several films, most notably Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and Casino Royale.

The principal differences between the DB4 and DB5 are:

1. The engine was enlarged from 3.7 L to 4.0 L,
2. A new five-speed transmission
3. Three SU carburettors, producing 282 bhp (210 kW), propelling the car to 141 mph (227 km/h).

Standard equipment on the DB5 included reclining seats, pile carpets, electric windows and a fire extinguisher. All models had 4 seats and 2 doors. The UK recommended list price of the sports saloon (coupe) in December 1963 was £4,248 including Purchase Tax, the convertible was £4,562.
Specifications

Standard coupe:[1]

* Engine: 3,995 cc (243.8 cu in) Inline-6
* Power: 282 bhp (210 kW) at 5500 rpm
* Torque: 288 lb·ft (390 N·m) at 3850 rpm
* Weight: 1,502 kg (3,310 lb)
* Top Speed: 141 mph (227 km/h)
* 0–60 mph (97 km/h) Acceleration: 8.1 s

[edit] Variants

[edit] DB5 Vantage

The high-performance DB5 Vantage was introduced in 1964 and featured three Weber carburettors. This engine produced 314 bhp (234 kW). Only 65 DB5 Vantage coupes were built.

[edit] DB5 convertible
1965 DB5 Vantage convertible

Just 123 convertible DB5s were produced, though they never used the typical "Volante" name. The convertible was offered from 1963 through to 1965. Only 19 of the 123 DB5 Convertibles made were left-hand drive.


[edit] DB5 shooting brake

A very unusual DB5 was the shooting brake estate car. The prototype was custom produced by the factory for David Brown, and twelve more coupes were custom modified for Aston Martin by independent coachbuilder, Harold Radford.[2] A design flaw with the station wagon was that there was no change to the rear suspension. Drivers of the shooting brake would find this out when the load in the rear shifted at high speed in a corner with a resultant loss of control.

[edit] James Bond's DB5

The Aston Martin DB5 is the most famous Aston Martin car due to its use by James Bond in Goldfinger (1964). Although Ian Fleming had placed Bond in a DB Mark III in the novel, the DB5 was the company's newest model when the film was being made. The car used in the film was the original DB5 prototype, with another standard car used for stunts. Two more modified cars were built for publicity tours after the film's release. In January 2006, one of those cars was auctioned in Arizona for US $2,090,000. The same car was originally bought in 1970 for £5,000 from the owner, Sir Anthony Bamford, by a Tennessee museum owner. [3] The other car is located in the Netherlands in the Louwman Collection Museum, and this car was mainly used for promoting the movie.

Within the universe of James Bond, the same car was used again in the following film, Thunderball (registration BMT 216A). A different Aston Martin DB5 (registration BMT 214A) was used in the 1995 Bond film, GoldenEye in which three different DB5s were used for filming. The BMT 214A also returned in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and was set to make a cameo at Castle Thane in The World Is Not Enough (1999), but the scene was cut. Yet another DB5 appeared in Casino Royale (2006), this one with the steering wheel on the left side versus the previous British versions.

The first DB5 prototype used in Goldfinger with the chassis number DP/216/1 was later stripped of its weaponry and gadgetry by Aston Martin and then resold. It was then retrofitted by subsequent owners with nonoriginal weaponry. The Chassis DP/216/1 DB5 was stolen in 1997 from its last owner in Florida and is currently still missing.[4]

A highly detailed 1:24 scale die-cast model with many working features was produced as a limited edition by the Danbury Mint.[5]