Normally, the Aston Martin DB5 should not have enjoyed such an aura. Indeed, it was only an evolution of the DB4, released in 1958. And not very visible what is more. Because the DB5, when it was released in July 1963, differed externally from the DB4 Series 5 Vantage practically only by its two tank caps. So why rename it?
Because it benefits from many improvements. The engine goes from 3.7 l to 4.0 l and develops 282 hp, once morest 265 hp in the DB4 Vantage, while an alternator replaces the dynamo. In the passenger compartment, the dashboard benefits from alterations, the equipment is enriched (electric windows in particular), the soundproofing improves, all resulting in a weight increase of a hundred kilos. To cope with this, the braking gains a second servo, while a ZF 5 box is quickly offered as standard, an automatic existing as an option. Very good, but there is nothing to whip a cat, especially since the rear axle remains desperately rigid.
Only… To Aston’s delight, William Lyons, Jaguar’s creator and manager, is tight-fisted. So he refuses to supply E-Types to the producers of the James Bond saga. The latter then call on Aston Martin, which agrees to provide 007 with his mount. This bursts the screen in Goldfinger, in 1964.
By its astonishing beauty already. By its famous gadgets then. Finally… It is not the DB5 which benefits from it but rather the DB4 having been used for the development of its replacement: Aston, not rolling on gold, refused to slash a new DB5 for the needs of the film. On the other hand, the latest addition to the English brand appears well in close-ups. Two other specimens equipped with gadgets, dummy this time, will be used for the promotion of Opération Tonnerre.
Aston will resell the DB4 as an ordinary occasion, following having rid it of its gadgets, and this car will disappear, following a theft. The other three still exist, one having been used to promote the film having been sold for 6.38 million dollars by RM Sotheby’s in 2019.
In total, the DB5 was only made for a little over two years, being replaced by the DB6 at the end of 1965. 898 coupés and 123 convertibles were produced, more than DB4s in a comparable period. This is the James Bond effect, which has certainly enabled Aston Martin to survive many crises by giving it an aura that the manufacturer would never have been able to claim without 007… Never has a film contributed so much to success of a car.
