Do you have access to large amounts of private land, preferably somewhere in the desert, or a road network in a secluded forest where you could dispose of an unwanted passenger?
A recent report in the London Times newspaper, ‘No. Mr Bond, I expect you to drive’ (27th May), has revealed that the production of replicas of the gadget-laden Aston Martin DB5, issued to Sean Connery’s 007 in Goldfinger (1964), has commenced at the carmaker’s factory in Buckinghamshire, England.
The latest version of the iconic DB5, which will not require a driver’s licence or be allowed to be driven on public roads in the UK, will be supplied to their new owners later this year, each of whom has each paid £3.3million for each car. According to Aston Martin, 25 models have been ordered, snapped up by eager buyers. The Man with the Midas touch would certainly be impressed.
And what a golden buy it will be! Purchasers will get a model very close to the real thing. Aston has apparently spent the last two years testing smoke emitters, oil slick sprayers and bullet-proof shields, with a view to adding these ‘extras’ to each of the new replicas. The award-winning EON designer Chris Corbould, veteran of numerous Bond films, has also been involved with the project and supplied his expert advice.
On the other hand, while each replica is to be sprayed in ‘sliver birch’ paint, it will not (sadly) have an ejector seat or nail spreaders (for health and safety reasons). The smoke and oil dispensers will also only produce material that will not endanger any pursuing vehicles. Similarly, when the famous mini-machineguns are switched on to protrude, they will flicker and produce sound as if firing, but not harm any potential Oddjobs who happen to get in the way.
Paul Squires, head of Aston Martin Works, told the media that it would have been hard to justify the addition of real-life working guns: ‘That would not be compliant with a very great number of laws and/or safety regulations! However, the guns do appear to work and have light bursts to indicate them firing along with authentic gunshot sound effects amplified through speakers’. In other words, the new owner could still make life difficult for any pesky neighbours they suspected of being secret members of SPECTRE.
An Aston Martin spokesman confirmed to The Times that all 25 models had been sold and that there were no plans for further production of the gadget-laden DB5s, although ‘continuation models’ of the standard DB5s would possible be produced if there was sufficient demand. Aston Martin declined to comment on who had actually purchased the gadget-laden replicas.
Bond fans are looking forward to the release of No Time To Die, Daniel Craig’s fifth 007 adventure, later this year, where the world-famous DB5 will return for a spectacular car chase, complete with some ‘improved’ machine-guns.
Did You Know?
Sir Sean Connery, who was, of course, the first EON big-screen James Bond, spoke in 2019 about Goldfinger and of his fondness for the DB5: ‘These DB5s are amazing. I remember the Furka Pass [in Switzerland] tyre shredding, as well as the promotional events with the cars. I bought a very fine DB5 myself recently’.
One way to deal with those traffic jams! The DB5 in ‘No Time To Die’.