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James Bond’s 1965 Car sells for $9.4 million at auction

James Bond's Car
A James Bond 1965 Aston Martin DB5 coupe is displayed at Sotheby's auction house in New York, U.S., July 26, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
A James Bond 1965 Aston Martin DB5 coupe is displayed at Sotheby’s auction house in New York, U.S., July 26, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

He or she may not have a licence to kill, but an anonymous buyer has paid $9.4 million at auction for the privilege of driving James Bond’s car — complete with working gadgets.

The 1965 Aston Martin DB5 was one of just four cars made for the early films, three of which still exist today.

The vehicle in question never appeared in the movies and was instead used at promotional events in the United States for the 1965 spy feature Thunderball.

It boasts 13 working modifications, including tire slashers, machine guns and a bulletproof shield.

And though never seen on film, it is also equipped with a telephone in the driver’s door (to communicate with MI6 headquarters), and a hidden compartment under the driver’s seat containing several weapons, including a Browning .30 calibre machine gun in each fender.

Auction house RM Sotheby’s said the Bond modifications had been properly refurbished to function as originally built and that the car had had three private owners over 50 years.

James Bond 1965 Aston Martin DB5 is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Monday, July 29, 2019. The car is one of just three surviving original examples commissioned, and fitted with MI6 Q specifications. It is estimated at $4 million - $6 million when offered at sale in Monterey, Calif, Aug. 15. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Bond’s lasting love of the DB5

The Aston Martin DB5 made its first appearance in the 1964 film Goldfinger, with the original Bond actor Sean Connery behind the wheel.

It has since appeared in six more Bond films: Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre.

Speaking to RM Sotheby’s ahead of the sale Connery said: “These DB5s are amazing — I remember the Furka Pass tire shredding as well as the promotional events with these cars.”

“They have become increasingly iconic since Goldfinger and Thunderball. In fact I bought a very fine DB5 myself relatively recently.”

According to RM Sotheby’s, the success of Goldfinger was also a success for Aston Martin, which saw DB5 sales “surge to fuel an unprecedented level of production”.

Specialist Barney Ruprecht said of the sale: “No other car in history has played a more important leading role on film and in pop culture than the Aston Martin DB5.

“The DB5 is the iconic cornerstone of a marketing relationship that still exists to this day — with the model’s collectible status rooted largely in its 007 fame.”