Whatever Happened to 007 James Bond's Aston Martin DB5?

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Aston Martin DB5 used for the film GoldenEye.

Has the mystery of the missing James Bond Aston Martin DB5 finally been solved?

By John Bowman, August 22, 2021

- Podcast series examines disappearance of vehicle that appeared in Goldfinger and Thunderball

- Iconic grand tourer was stolen from a private jet hangar in Florida in 1997

- It was one of four DB5s used in the films but the only one with working gadgets such as ejector seats

- The car is now said to be worth more than £18m

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It was a crime worthy of Spectre itself – the disappearance of James Bond’s beloved Aston Martin DB5.

The secret agent’s gadget-laden grand tourer was driven by Sean Connery as the fictional secret agent 007 in the films Goldfinger and Thunderball in, respectively, 1964 and 1965.

But in June 1997 – by which time it was in the collection of real-life real estate developer Anthony Pugliese III – it disappeared without trace from a private jet hangar at Boca Raton Airport in Florida, sparking a worldwide hunt that left investigators flummoxed.

The DB5, bearing the chassis tag DP/216/1 and registration number BMT 216A, was one of four used in the film but the only one that had working gadgets such as ejector seats, machine guns and tire-shredders.

It was refitted with replica effects after the originals were removed before being sold as a road car.

The iconic vehicle is now believed to be worth more than £18m, and a new eight-part podcast series is exploring the mystery, with a $100,000 (circa £73,500) reward for information.

The Most Famous Car In The World, hosted by Elizabeth Hurley, launched earlier this week (Aug 18) on Apple and all major channels.

Christopher A Marinello of Art Recovery International, who specializes in recovering stolen treasures, is leading the investigation and has spent more than a decade hunting for the car, which he calls his ‘white whale’.

He now thinks he may have tracked it down to a private collection in Bahrain, Dubai, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia because of what’s believed to be the matching VIN of a DB5 that was recently seen.

It’s possible the current owner doesn’t even know that they’re in possession of stolen goods.

Marinello was quoted by the Daily Telegraph as saying: ‘There are major automobile collectors in those countries and I have intelligence that the car could be in one of them and may have even travelled between them.

‘I’m hopeful that the possessor will come forward voluntarily before I have to make an announcement.

‘It’s my policy to give possessors of stolen and looted objects every opportunity to do the right thing.’

Hurley – who appeared in two of the three Austin Powers spy spoof films – said: ‘I’m a huge fan of James Bond so I’m excited to share this fascinating heist story.

‘I hope this podcast will intrigue 007 fans everywhere and help shine a light on the mystery and see the Aston Martin DB5 returned after all this time.’

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From:

James Bond's DB5 ~

The Aston Martin DB5 became widely known after special effects expert John Stears modified a DB5 for use by James Bond in the 1964 film Goldfinger. Author Ian Fleming had placed Bond in a DB Mark III in the novel, but Stears persuaded the company to make its DB5 prototype available.

There were a total of four Goldfinger DB5s. Two of these were used in filming and two were used only for promotional purposes. The first filming car, DP/216/1, was fitted with gadgets. This DB5 was the original prototype and was painted Dubonnet Red. Before it appeared in Goldfinger, it was used in episode 2.17, "The Noble Sportsman," of The Saint. This car, chassis number DP/216/1, was later stripped of its weaponry and gadgetry by Aston Martin and resold. It was retrofitted by subsequent owners with non-original weaponry and later appeared in the film The Cannonball Run (1981), driven by Roger Moore. Chassis DP/216/1 DB5 was stolen in 1997 from its last owner in Florida and was reported to be still missing in 2021. The second filming car, DB5/1486/R, was used for driving scenes and had no gadgets. After filming, gadgets were added and the car was used for promotion. It featured the pop-out gun barrels behind the front indicators, the bullet shield behind the rear window and a three-way revolving front number plate showing "LU 6789" or "4711-EA-62" or "BMT 216A." In 2010, RM Auctions sold this car for $4.6 million to Harry Yeaggy. The first publicity car, DB5/2017/R, was acquired by the Louwman Museum in The Hague. The second publicity car, DB5/2008/R, was auctioned by RM Sotheby's in August 2019 for $6.4 million to an unknown buyer. These two cars were displayed at the 1964 New York World's Fair to promote the film. Sales of the DB5 increased after it was described as "the most famous car in the world".

After Goldfinger, the Aston Martin DB5 became closely associated with the James Bond franchise. The same car (registration BMT 216A) was used again in the next film, Thunderball, a year later. The DB5 is considered to be the quintessential vehicle associated with the Bond character and it has reappeared in subsequent Bond films.

A different DB5 (registration BMT 214A) was used in the 1995 Bond film GoldenEye, in which the car was Bond's personal vehicle and had no gadgets - although it did come equipped with a champagne cooler in the arm rest and a fax machine. Three different DB5s were used for filming. This same car briefly reappeared in the next film, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997). It was set to make a cameo appearance in the Scotland scenes in The World Is Not Enough (1999), but most of these scenes were cut in the final edit. Another DB5 (registration 56526) appeared in Casino Royale (2006), this time owned by the villain, Alex Dimitrios. This car had Bahamian number plates and left-hand drive (where the previous British versions had been right-hand drive). In the film, Bond wins the car from Dimitrios after beating him in a card game.

The Goldeneye DB5 was put on display at the London Film Museum in Covent Garden. Of the three cars used in the production, one car, DB5/2187/R, was filmed for the static ocean-side shot. A second car, DB5/1885/R, was driven in the chase scene against a Ferrari in Monte Carlo. This car was sold at a Christie's auction in 2001 and entered the Guinness Book of Records that year after receiving the highest price paid for an item of Bond memorabilia. It appeared in the Bond exhibition at Beaulieu before moving to a new home in the London Film Museum. The third car, chassis number DB5/1484/R, was retained by the movie production company, Eon Productions, and appeared in later Bond movies.

Aston Martin DB5 used for the film GoldenEye.

Another silver-birch DB5 with the original registration BMT 216A was used in the 23rd James Bond film, Skyfall, which coincided with the 50th anniversary of the release of the first Bond film, Dr. No, in 1962. The car is destroyed in the film's climactic finale, although a highly detailed 1/3rd scale model was constructed for the destruction scenes. Two cars were used during filming: DB5/1484/R (first seen in GoldenEye) and a second car, DB5/2007/R. It is seen again in Spectre (2015), firstly in Q's underground workshop in various stages of rebuild, and at the film's ending, fully rebuilt, with Bond driving it away.

In 2019, Aston Martin confirmed that the car would be featured in the next Bond film, No Time to Die, to be released in October 2021. The plan was to build replicas and not use existing vehicles. Eight replica DB5 stunt cars were built for the movie. The DB5 seen in a high-speed chase at the start of the film was sold for £2.92 million at a charity auction in London in 2022.

Remade ~

In 2020, as the next phase of the Continuation programme which had started in 2017 with the reborn DB4GT, Aston Martin began construction of 25 new DB5 Goldfinger-themed cars at the factory in Newport Pagnell, north Buckinghamshire, where the first DB5s were built. The cars were authentic reproductions of Bond's Goldfinger DB5 and were fitted with most of the spy gadgets seen in the film. Several of the gadgets were designed to be functional, including smoke screen, simulated oil slick delivery system, revolving number plates, and rear bullet shield.

Wherever possible, Aston Martin used the same manufacturers as were used in the original 1963-65 production run. ZF Friedrichshafen, for example, supplied the transmission and Connolly Leather supplied the interiors. As in the 1960s, the aluminum body panels were hand-made and fitted by hand to a steel chassis. The engine was a 290bhp 4.0 litre inline six-cylinder with three SU carburators, mated to a five-speed ZF manual transmission, and the cars were finished in the same Silver Birch color scheme as the original. The Goldfinger DB5s were created in association with the producers of the James Bond films, EON Productions. It was intended that they would sell for about £2.75 million each. The first of the new cars rolled off the production line at the beginning of July 2020.

Promotional items ~

With Goldfinger, Corgi Toys began its decades-long relationship with the Bond franchise. They produced a model of the car which became the biggest selling toy of 1964. A detailed 1:24 scale plastic kit of the James Bond DB5 was produced by Airfix between 1966 and 1970.

1964 Aston Martin DB5, produced by Corgi Toys, as a tie-in to the film.

A highly detailed, 1:24 scale die-cast DB5 model with many working features was produced by the Danbury Mint in 2006 as a limited edition for Casino Royale. In January 2011, a 1/8 scale model was released by part work magazine publisher GE Fabbri in the UK. Over 85 weekly parts, the model built into one of the biggest 007 scale models, with working gadgets and lights. In 2015, Hot Wheels Elite released their Cult Classics Goldfinger Aston Martin DB5 in 1/18 and 1/43 scale, the 1/18 model featuring many of the gadgets from the original film.

In July 2018, LEGO unveiled a 1:8 scale 1,290-piece DB5 construction set with front machine guns, hidden telephone, ejector seat, bullet shield, tyre shredders and the homing screen in the cockpit. In June 2022, The Lego Group announced that a construction set of James Bond's Aston Martin DB5 would be released in August 2022 as part of the Lego Speed Champions range.

Two-thirds scale replicas ~

The Little Car Company in Bicester, UK, in partnership with Aston Martin Lagonda, created 'Junior Edition', two-thirds scale, electric-powered replicas of the DB5 convertible, the DB5 Vantage and the No Time to Die DB5, which were priced between £35,000 and £90,000. The cars were built using 3D scans of the original.

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Sean Connery poses with the DB5.

Another James Bond, Pierce Brosnan poses witht ehcar.

Wax figure of Sean Connery posing with the DB5 at the "50-Years of Bond Style" event.

One of the Aston Martin DB5s used in the James Bond Skyfall film. Photographed in the Great Court at Blenheim Palace.

Two Aston Martin DB5s were supplied to EON Productions, one of which had no gadgets.

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