Lecha Khouri (Agent James Bond 007) beside the 1963 Aston Martin DB5.
Welcome to 1964, an eventful year, some highlights of the year include, Walt Disney being awarded the Medal of Freedom at the White House, Nobel Peace Prize presented to Dr Martin Luther king Jr. in Oslo and last but not least, the spectacular film premier of the third instalment in the James Bond franchise, “Goldfinger”.
Sean Connery with the Aston Martin DB5 in Goldfinger.
Goldfinger, starring Sean Connery was a hit, not did it only star a famous actor but it also debuted one of the most astonishing car, the Aston Martin DB5. Since 1964, the Aston Martin DB5 has been known as the most iconic movie car and more importantly as the most iconic Bond car of all time. Since 1964 it has been used in subsequent Bond movies, Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall and Spectre.
Aston Martin DB5, straight 6 cylinder engine.
The Aston Martin DB5 is an inline 6 cylinder, 4.0 litre, 282 bhp, British built sports saloon which propelled Mr Bond to his unbeatable car chase scenes. The DB5 mixed style with beauty whilst sporting speed and handling that was unrivalled but only matched or beaten by the Italian cars of its era. It still provided a formidable 0-100km/hr time of 8.0 seconds, most modern cars are slower than that, take the 2017 Jaguar XF Prestige, that does it in 8.1 seconds.
Aston Martin DB5
In recent times, The DB5 has soared up in value, in October 2010 at the RM Auctions, one of the DB5’s used in the Bond films, Chassis no. DB5/1486/R was auctioned off for an impressive £2,912,000.00. In 2017, values of non filmed DB5’s sit between AUD $1,500,000.00 - $2,000,000.00.
Whilst Bond’s car was fitted with many extra gadgets, mine unfortunately wasn’t, however that hasn’t stopped me from having my ultimate Bond moment and making use of the sensations and thrills that the drive provides, and you too can enjoy them by sitting back and watching my latest episode dedicated to the Aston Martin DB5. As Bond says, “The name is Bond, James Bond...”, this is exactly how I feel behind the wheel of the gorgeous DB5.
This article was written in honour of Sir Roger Moore (1927-2017), by Lecha Khouri at Supercar Advocates in Sydney, Australia.