December 6, 2005 The original and most memorable of secret agent James Bond’s gadget-festooned automobiles, the Aston Martin DB5 which starred in the films Thunderball and Goldfinger, is to be sold at auction. Possibly the most famous automobile in the world during the 1960s when Ian Fleming’s books became box office hits, the highly-modified 1964 model Aston Martin was presented by gadgetmeister Q to Sean Connery (Bond) complete with.30 calibre Browning machine guns behind the front indicators, retractable tyre slashers, a retractable rear bullet proof screen, a radio telephone concealed in the door, a radar scanner with a tracking screen in the cockpit, a passenger ejector seat, an oil slick and smoke screen generator and revolving number plates.

Not only did the car set the imagination of a generation in motion, it was probably the most successful product placement in history. When Flemming wrote Goldfinger, Bond was driving a DB Mk III but by the time the film was being made, the DB4 had been introduced and the DB5 was under development. The producers approached Aston Martin, the prototype DB5 was offered and eventually four complete cars were made.

Some fantastic images and history of this car can be found at AstonMartins, Classic British Cars, James Bond Multimedia, MI6 and AJB.

The DB5 is expected to bring somewhere between US$1.5 and US$2.5 million.