Aston Martin DB5

Aston Martin DB5

Manufacturer	Aston Martin
Production	1963–1965 1,023 produced
Predecessor	Aston Martin DB4
Successor	Aston Martin DB6
Class	Grand tourer
Body style	2-door 2+2 coupé 2-door convertible (123) 2-door shooting brake (13)
Layout	FR layout
Engine	3995 cc Tadek Marek I6
Transmission	ZF 5-speed all-synchromesh manual or Borg Warner DG automatic (changed to Borg-Warner Model 8 shortly before the DB6 replaced the DB5)
Length	4.57 metres (179.9 in)
Width	1.68 metres (66.1 in)

The Aston Martin DB5 is a luxury grand tourer that was made by Aston Martin. Released in 1963, it was an evolution of the final series of DB4. The DB series was named honouring David Brown (the head of Aston Martin from 1947–1972).

The DB5 is famous for being the first and most recognised cinematic James Bond car. It has been featured in several films, most notably Goldfinger, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale and the upcoming Skyfall. It was also used by actor Roger Moore, as he played a James Bond parody character in the film The Cannonball Run. It appears in several video games such as 007 Racing, James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire, From Russia with Love, and James Bond 007: Blood Stone. In the 2011 movie "Cars 2" a stylized version of the Aston Martin DB5 becomes the spy character, Finn McMissile.

The principal differences between the DB4 and DB5 are:

1. The all-aluminium engine was enlarged from 3.7 L to 4.0 L,
2. A new robust ZF five-speed transmission
3. Three SU carburettors

Producing 282 bhp (210 kW), which propelled the car to 145 mph (233 km/h), this engine, available on the Vantage (high powered) version of the DB4 since March 1962, became the standard Aston Martin power unit with the launch in September 1963 of the DB5.

Standard equipment on the DB5 included reclining seats, wool pile carpets, electric windows, twin fuel tanks, chrome wire wheels, oil cooler, magnesium-alloy body built to superleggera patent technique, full leather trim in the cabin and even a fire extinguisher. All models had 4 seats and 2 doors.

Specifications

An Aston Martin DB5 engine

Standard coupe:

• 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: 145 mph (233 km/h)
• 0–60 mph (97 km/h) Acceleration: 7.1 s

Performance data from Motor magazine road test, 6 February 1965. [1]

Variants

DB5 Vantage

The high-performance DB5 Vantage was introduced in 1964 featuring three Weber twin-choke 45DCOE side-draft carburettors and revised camshaft profiles, delivering greater top-end performance at the expense of overall flexibility, especially as legendary Webers are renowned as 'full-throttle' devices. This engine produced 314 hp (234 kW). Only 65 DB5 Vantage coupés were built.

1965 DB5 Vantage convertible

DB5 convertible

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

From October 1965 to October 1966, Aston Martin used the last 37 of the Aston Martin DB5 chassis' to make another convertible model. These 37 cars were known as "Short Chassis" Volantes and were the first Aston Martins to hold the "Volante" name. Although calling it a "Short Chassis" is a bit of a misnomer as the "short" comes from comparing it to the subsequent DB6, which has a longer chassis. When compared to the DB5, it is not "short" but rather the same size, however these cars differ to the DB5 convertible models as they feature DB6 split front and rear bumpers and rear TR4 lights, as also used on the DB6.

DB5 shooting brake

DB5 shooting brake

A prototype DB5 shooting brake was custom produced by the factory for David Brown, an avid hunter and dog owner, and 11-12 more coupés were custom modified for Aston Martin by independent coachbuilder, Harold Radford. The taillights used were Triumph units, and were also adopted for the succeeding DB6.

James Bond's DB5

The Aston Martin DB5 is one of the most famous cars in the world thanks to Oscar-winning special effects genius (also known as 'the Real Q') John Stears, who created the deadly silver-birch DB5 for 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 latest 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 these was auctioned in Arizona; the same car was originally bought in 1970 from the owner, Sir Anthony Bamford, by a Tennessee museum owner. The other car is now located in The Netherlands, in the Louwman Museum, and this car was mainly used for promoting the movie. 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.

Within the universe of James Bond, the same car (registration BMT 216A) was used again in the following film, Thunderball, a year later. 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 appearance in the Scotland-set scenes in The World Is Not Enough (1999), but these were cut in the final edit. Yet another DB5 appeared in Casino Royale (2006), this one with Bahamian number plates and left-hand drive (where the previous British versions had been right-hand drive). Another silver-birch DB5 with the original registration BMT 216A will appear in the 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall (2012).

A highly detailed 1:24 scale die-cast model with many working features was produced as a limited edition by the Danbury Mint. A highly detailed kit was also produced by Airfix between 1966 and 1970.

In January 2011 a 1/8 scale model was released by part work magazine publisher GE Fabbri in the UK. Over 85 weekly parts, the model builds into one of the biggest 007 scale models to date, with working gadgets and lights. [2]

On 1 June 2010, RM Auctions announced the upcoming auction of a DB5 used in Thunderball and Goldfinger. The owner – Jerry Lee, President/Owner of WBEB Radio in Philadelphia, PA- originally bought the car from the Aston Martin company for in 1969, and it was expected to reach a price of (US). At the auction, this famous DB5 was eventually sold for 2,600,000 GBP ( US).

Use in popular culture

An Aston Martin DB5 appeared in heavily stylized form as 'Finn McMissile', a British secret agent voiced by Sir Michael Caine in the 2011 Pixar film Cars 2. The car character was an homage to the Bond DB5.

See also

• List of James Bond vehicles

External links

• Aston Martin DB5 on Objectbook – Aston Martin DB5 resource
• Newport Pagnell 6 Cylinder Cars AstonMartins.com
• Aston Martin DB5 InternetMovieCarsDatabase.org
• An original sales brochure for the DB5 Aston.co.uk
• Period DB5 sales literature and specification brochure Aston.co.uk
• Period original 1964 DB5 sales brochure Aston.co.uk
• 1964 Aston Martin DB5 saloon/convertible full specification Aston.co.uk
• Full 1964 DB5 price list Aston.co.uk