The Bond Connection
Aston marketing people love the connection between James Bond and the marque. It really is the ultimate in branding.
The engineering team hate the connection. They work really hard designing new models with ever improving handling, power, and quality. Then when launch date comes all the press want to know is whether it’ll be in the next Bond film. (The answer at the time of writing is yes by the way).
One of the 4 DB5s used in the Goldfinger film* is for sale. It comes complete with pop out bumpers, machine guns and revolving number plates, but the ejector seat has apparently been “removed for safety”.
The car will be auctioned at RM Auctions’ Vintage Motor Cars in Arizona to be held in Phoenix, Arizona on Jan. 20, 2006.
See CNN news for the full article.
*Edit>
Browsing through the Aston Martin Owners Club Forum it seems this car was built for promotional purposes after the films were made. amocwebmaster had this to say:
2008/R ….. and one other replica (2017/R), were built in the 60s, after Thunderball had been filmed, purely for tour and promotional use and differs in some obvious details, such as the appearance of the revolving number plate.
Dave Worrall’s ‘The Most Famous Car in The World’ has full details.