Aston Martin DB5 Vantage

Aston Martin DB5 Vantage

The Aston Martin DB5 is, by virtue of its association with James Bond, the most famous car in the world. When Sean Connery drove a Silver Birch DB5 in Goldfinger (1964) and Thunderball (1965), equipped with machine guns, an ejector seat, revolving license plates, and oil-slick deployment, it created the most enduring car-movie partnership in cinema history. Every subsequent Bond actor has been associated with the DB5.

But the DB5 was extraordinary long before Bond. The 'DB' designation honored David Brown, the industrialist who acquired Aston Martin in 1947 and transformed it from a struggling niche manufacturer into a maker of world-class grand tourers. The DB5 was the evolution of the DB4, with a larger 4.0-liter twin-cam inline-six engine (designed by Tadek Marek), a ZF 5-speed gearbox, and subtle styling refinements by Touring of Milan's Superleggera ('super-light') construction method.

The Vantage specification added three Weber 45 DCOE carburetors (versus the standard car's two SU carburetors), raising output from 282 hp to 325 hp. The Vantage was the hot-rod DB5, capable of 145 mph and 0-60 in 7.1 seconds.

Every DB5 was hand-built at Aston Martin's Newport Pagnell factory by a small team of craftsmen. The aluminum body panels were formed over a tubular steel frame (the Superleggera method), the interior was trimmed in Connolly leather, and the dashboard featured Smiths instruments set in a walnut fascia. The attention to detail was extraordinary — each car took months to complete.

Only 1,023 DB5s were produced (including 123 convertibles). This scarcity, combined with the Bond association and the car's genuine beauty and driving pleasure, has made the DB5 one of the most valuable and sought-after collector cars in the world. The Bond 'gadget car' (one of several used in filming) sold at auction for $6.4 million in 2010.

The DB5 represents the absolute pinnacle of British grand touring. It is beautiful, fast, luxurious, exclusive, and culturally iconic — a combination that no other car has ever matched.