Rare Aston Martin DB5 convertible drives $5.6 Million in sales at Goodwood

Noah Joseph — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:59:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Convertible, Auctions, Aston Martin, Misc. Auto Shows, UK

1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage Convertible - Click above for high-res image gallery

Britain has produced more than its fair share of memorable classics, but arguably few as seductive as the classic Aston Martins of the 1960s. Introduced in 1963, the DB5 benefited from several generations of DB4 development, largely retaining the Touring bodywork but replacing the old 3.6-liter engine with a new 4.0-liter unit and several other advancements.

Over two years of production, over a thousand DB5s were built, the vast majority of coupes outselling the 12 Radford coachbuilt shooting brakes and the 23 convertibles. Of those few roadsters, only nine were outfitted with the more powerful Vantage engine, and one of them has just sold for a record £551,500 ($833k) at the Bonhams auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The example in question, with original "VDB 5" license plates, had three previous owners who saw it through two comprehensive restorations (one at the Aston Martin Works Service in 1992 and another at Aston Service Hamburg in 2004), and was displayed last year at Villa d'Este.

Along with the DB5 Vantage Convertible (the Volante name only coming into use on the subsequent DB6), Bonhams also auctioned off the 1937 Bentley featured in the Bond film "Never Say Never Again" for £221,500 ($335k), a rare Lister-Jaguar for £232,500 ($351k) and several more, totaling £3,707,687 ($5.6m) in sales. Details in the press release after the jump, with photos of the beautiful Aston in the gallery below.

Gallery: 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Vantage Convertible

[Source: Bonhams]

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Our kind of recycling: Full-size cardboard Aston Martin DB5

Dan Roth — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:37:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Lifestyle

Even "normal" Aston Martin DB5's are priced in the stratosphere, but Mr. Bond's up-armored version would likely command a premium, were the provenance verifiable. Just like foam, clay, and dynoc make very convincing styling bucks for automakers, cardboard in the right hands can take a pile of Two Buck Chuck shipping vessels and create '60s Aston gold. Creating rather than destroying, perhaps someone should tip off the dude who's smashing musclecars together in pursuit of some kind of artistic expression?

Replicating something of great value and pop culture weightiness out of essentially worthless material without the help of any wooden or metal frame is a skillful trick. Even more skillful is the bang-on accuracy of artist Chris Gilmour's renderings. Toss a coat of paint on that thing, and you's swear that Q Branch built it. There's even a full complement of machine guns, Ben-Hur knockoffs, and a big ejector seat button in the shifter. Looking at the pictures, we expect you to talk.

Gallery: Cardboard James Bond Aston

[Source: Chris Gilmour via Jalopnik]

Our kind of recycling: Full-size cardboard Aston Martin DB5 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 02 Aug 2008 10:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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