The Aston Martin DB5 driven by James Bond in the 1964 classic Goldfinger has sold at auction for a staggering £2.6 MILLION.
But despite the huge figure, the silver DB5 fell short of the £3 million-plus figure many thought it would fetch at the Automobiles of London event organised by RM Auctions and Sothebys.
The hammer went down at 9.40pm tonight after only two bids – with the auction winner £2.6 million poorer but the proud owner of film’s most famous car.
The DB5 was driven by super-suave Sean Connery in the 1964 Bond film – with ‘Q’ branch fitting the sports car with some of the most elaborate gadgets seen on screen.
It boasted revolving numberplates, a bulletproof shield, extending bumper overriders for ramming the bad guys, a smoke screen, an oil slick, nail spreaders – and even machine guns.
But the most outrageous feature of the Aston Martin is its ‘fighter jet’ ejector seat which is triggered by a little red button postioned under the gear lever knob.
All of these features remain intact but it wouldn’t be any use in a drive-by shooting as the machine guns are dummies.
The Aston Martin was one of two DB5s used for the filming of Goldfinger but the second was reported stolen in 1997 and is thought to have been destroyed – making this particular model all the more special.
It was bought by philanthropist Jerry Lee in 1969 for the princely sum of £8,000 – with proceeds from last night’s sale going to the Jerry Lee Foundation, a charity committed to solving social problems associated with poverty.
As part of the deal, the new Aston owner also gets their hands on a £40,000 trip to the Carribean island where Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond novels and £30,000 worth of fabric to be made into a custom suit by Gieves & Hawkes of No.1 Savile Row – the tailors used for Sean Connery’s Bond.
The most expensive car sold at auction was a 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa which went under the hammer for £8 million at the 2009 Ferrari Leggenda E Passione sale in Maranello, Italy.
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