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The Aston Martin DB5 is an icon of the British car industry, and has been immortalised in history thanks to its appearance in several James Bond films. Launched in 1963, it is a British classic and almost half a century later it remains Aston Martins most famous car. The DB series was in fact named after David Brown who was the head of Aston Martin from 1947 through to 1972, and the sleek styling along with the cars success is a credit to himself and his team of stylists and engineers.

The car driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger, which was the DB5’s first appearance in a James Bond film was actually also the original DB5 prototype. Infamously, this car is currently missing having been stolen from the last genuine owner in Florida during 1997. Let’s hope he had some quality classic car insurance in place! After appearing in Goldfinger, DB5’s went on to appear in Thunderball, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale. It was also to appear in The World is not enough as a cameo role, although the scene didn’t make the final cut.

The Aston Martin DB5 was essentially an evolution of the DB4 which it replaced. The DB5 had a longer wheel base and increased weight, but this was offset by the increased engine capacity which raised the power of the base model to 282bhp, and the top of the range DB5 Vantage generated 325bhp. The very earliest models only provided the choice between a rather limited 4 speed manual gearbox or a 3 speed automatic. However, shortly after release a sporty 5 speed gearbox was implemented, and became standard across the range. The DB5 was very much a sports car, but in true Aston Martin style it also provided an element of luxury with electric windows as standard, and the option of air conditioning.

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