Legends and Legacies: Aston Martin DB5

(Image source: boldride.com) 22 films ago, the first Aston Martin made its screen debut in Goldfinger, the third instalment of the James Bond series.

Most of us probably weren’t born yet (or you could still be a screaming baby in your mother’s arms) but the Aston Martin DB5 already made its big screen debut alongside his co-star Sean Connery in 1964. Its starring role in Goldfinger back in the day had made the DB5 a household name and on the lips of the world.

The DB5 started its life as a replacement for the DB4 in 1963, so the DB5 had inherited the same innovative lightweight superleggera (tube-frame) body along with the DB4’s unique looks that became a trademark Aston look though the DB5 has got a four-litre version of the twin camshaft six-cylinder engine instead of the 3.7-litre engine so think of the DB5 as the faster and better version of the DB4.

But other than boasting number like a power output of 282bhp and 380Nm that propels the car from 0-100kph in 7.1 seconds and a top speed of 225kph, the DB5 did not break any technical innovations but only kept pace with developments of the era. Fitted out with four disc brakes and electric windows all around along with the rich leather seats, the DB5 did well to justify its sky high price tag that could see one purchase a piece of real estate in the better part of Surrey. (Image source: ddclassics.com)

Even though the DB5 had been described to have kept up with the times, the people over at the Newport Pagnell factory had not been confident with the trendy independent rear axle, so this saw the DB5s rolling out of the factory with solid axle work making the car a straight line happy car and a corner chucking armful.

The flare-in lights from Touring’s fashionable Italian bodywork is a nod towards modern aerodynamic thought but that did not stop Aston from returning to the drawing boards to recreate the lines which saw the standard coupe take on a stylish convertible and a shooting brake form.

In 1964, Newport fitted three Weber twin-choke 45DCOE side-draft carburettors and revised camshaft profiles into the four-litre engine and gave the car more great-end performance and even bigger horsepower capabilities. This version capable of 315bhp is known as the DB5 Vantage coupes and only 65 of these were built in the world. (Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake" by edvvc from London, UK)

Fans of Ian Fleming’s classics would tell you that Fleming had placed Bond in a DB MK III instead but when the film Goldfinger was in the production the DB5 had been their latest model. So Aston had offered up the DB5 to film alongside Sean Connery and then again in Thunderball in 1965, the original DB5s built for the film made appearances in only two movies but a number of other Aston Martin DB5 took up the baton and play starring roles in GoldenEye and Tomorrow Never Dies and even Casino Royale.

Only 1023 DB5s were produced between 1963 and 1964 before the car was replaced by the DB6. The latest Bond Movie marks 50 years since Aston Martin started working with the James Bond producers and the DB5 will see the DB10 take its place as the ultimate Bond car. But we all know that the ultimate Bond fan would have the DB5 occupying a special location in their hearts!

Jerrica Leong

(Image source: bm.img.com.au)