DB5 — 1963
The DB5 is arguably the most famous car in the world. Its association with James Bond in Goldfinger in 1964 — with the legendary gadgets dreamed up by Q Branch: ejector seat, machine guns concealed in the headlights, revolving number plate — propelled it to the status of a universal cultural icon, reaching far beyond the world of car enthusiasts to lodge itself in the collective imagination across the globe. Yet beyond the cinematic myth, the DB5 is above all a refined evolution of the DB4: engine enlarged to 4.0 litres, 282 bhp, a ZF five-speed gearbox and even more carefully crafted interior finishes.
On the Aston Passion forum, the DB5 remains the model that stirs the most emotion and the liveliest response in the photo threads. Members lucky enough to have driven an original example unanimously describe a remarkably coherent experience — direct steering, a singing engine, a communicative chassis — that has lost none of its appeal sixty years on. The 1,059 examples produced now change hands at between €800,000 and several million euros depending on history and specification, with the Aston Martin continuation cars reaching the very top.
The DB5 Vantage: the high-performance option (1964–1965)
Offered as an option from 1964, the DB5 Vantage was not a model in its own right but a higher-output engine specification. The 4.0-litre straight-six received three twin-choke Weber carburettors in place of the usual SUs, raising power from 282 to 325 bhp. Outwardly, only a discreet “Vantage” badge on the boot lid betrayed the difference. Of the 1,059 DB5s produced, just under a hundred were ordered in Vantage specification — making them particularly sought-after by collectors today.