DB5 | The Legend
It is believed that half the world’s population would recognise an Aston Martin DB5, of course, I’m not sure how that was figured out, but it’s hard to argue that the Aston Martin DB5 is without a doubt the best-known of all the Aston Martins, and surely has to be up there as one of the top three classic cars ever made. Over the last 17 years car photographer Tim Wallace has photographed almost every classic Aston Martin model ever produced, including quite a few DB5s, indeed he was the key photographer in the Aston Martin 100 Centenary book.
When asked, as he often is, ‘Do you ever get to drive them’ his answer comes with a very slight smile on his face, because yes he does.
Tim - “Aston Martin cars are just one of those cars that everyone is familiar with, of course, the connection to James Bond 007 has always been a driving factor in that I guess. I know that when I was a kid, and that was a long time ago now, it was always the cars that I remember the most from the 007 films. Strangely though, and I have to be honest here, it was the Lotus Esprit that turned into a Submarine in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ that really is the one that sticks in my mind. We were on holiday and there was a shop selling one, it had small orange rockets that shot from the back of it, I did my usual begging and pleading to get one, the whole I’ll never ask for anything ever again’ routine. It worked and I gripped it tightly all the way to the family picnic on the beach where I very rapidly lost all of the rockets in the sand dunes, gutted.
Many people view cars based on performance and speed but for me, my interest and passion lie within the actual design of the cars, I have always viewed them as sculptures of metal and glass, and I photograph them as such in this style, working with my lighting to bring out the fine details as well as the sweeping and sometimes very subtle bodylines. The Aston Martin DB5 is one of those cars that just brings a smile to your face when you shoot it, regardless of that being in studio or on location. The gentle curve of the bodywork along its length begs to show the gentle fall off of light from top to bottom and the sweeping bonnet that drives towards that very recognisable Aston Martin front grill, with all its curves as it rises into the famous central air intake, offers photographers like me the opportunity to use lighting to show the sculpture in that beautiful design.
A few years ago when Aston Martin celebrated their 100 centenary year I was commissioned to shoot every ‘significant’ Aston model through the years, starting with the oldest surviving car, the very first prototype Bamford A3, a car that is closely guarded and indeed priceless today. Some of the cars that I captured for this book such as the Zagato's VEV1 and VEV2 are very rare and today are in the same condition as the day that they drove out of the factory gates, they are truly amazing cars with such a wonderful rich history. Of course, a major part of the book that we did was based around the Aston Martin DB5 and even though there are estimated to be 88 remaining today from the original 887 made, it is still the classic ‘Silver Birch’ DB5 that sits in everyone’s mind as being ‘the DB5’ that we all love, thanks to a bloke called James.”
Below are just a few examples of the car photography that we have shot over the years in celebration of this amazing car and its design.
History in the making - The DB5 is Born
One way to think of the DB5 is as the ultimate evolution of the DB4. Which, for many makes it the ultimate evolution of the most important car in Aston Martin’s history. It was the DB4, after all, that introduced Aston’s immortal straight-six engine and the fabulous touring lines that instantly made Aston Martin one of the most desired cars in the world. Aston historians will tell you how the DB4 passed through five distinct series, each gaining in detail improvements and refinement, visually at least, the DB5 was a dead ringer for the series 5 DB4 Vantage.
So why wasn’t this next evolutionary step simply a series 6 DB4, well it very nearly was, but the management decided that the new car was enough of a departure to justify being renamed, which doubtless kept the marketing men happy. And so, in July 1963, the new model was launched, and it was called DB5.
It was distinguished from late versions of the DB4 mainly by the introduction of a new, 4-litre version of the straight-six in place of the DB4’s 3.7-litre engine. From the September of 1964, customers were also offered the Vantage engine option, which meant triple Webers, a higher compression ratio and a loudly claimed 314bhp. Importantly, both offered usefully more torque than the outgoing engine. Magazine road testers recorded 0-60mph times as low as 7.1sec for the standard car, and a top speed of around 140mph (6.5sec and 150mph for the Vantage). Nothing to write home about today of course, but in 1963 only those red painted V12 Italians were quicker. The price in the UK was £4175, that’s around £92,000 in today’s money.
A legend is born, or rather, modified…
In his books, James Bond author Ian Fleming placed his secret agent behind the wheel of one of the last of the 4.0-litre Bentleys, a battleship of grey with a supercharger. The novel ‘Goldfinger’, however, introduced what Fleming called an Aston Martin DB III, which 007 borrows from the MI6 carpool because it was armed with a selection of extras – notably reinforced bumpers, a Colt .45 stashed beneath the driver’s seat, as you do, a radio that could follow a tracking device and a machine from the rear lights.
These were cutting-edge innovations when the novel was published in 1959, prompting Cubby Broccoli and Harry Saltzman to approach Aston Martin when taking their version of the Goldfinger story into movie production in 1963. After much negotiation, Aston Martin agreed to lend the production of their shinny new DB5. The car that made its way to Pinewood was the first prototype DB5, which was in fact a Series 5 DB4.
When the production guys got the first car from Aston Martin for Goldfinger, the production designer and special effects guys set about adding extra gadgets to the vehicle. The original Flemming modifications were great in 1959 but by 1963 the filmmakers decided these were not spectacular enough for the 007 cinema audience and the team set about designing the extras that would propel 007’s car to its now superstar status.
As the team sketched out their ideas, they chose to retain a number of Fleming’s modifications, the reinforced bumpers evolving into the extending over-riders. The tray for 007’s pistol was also retained, with several other weapons added, as was a radio tuned to receive messages from a tracking device. They then added modifications that would excite the imagination of cinema goers but which were also grounded in reality. Indeed, there were precedents of sorts for a number of the DB5’s most famous modifications, notably the tyre-slasher which owed a debt to the scythed chariots of ancient history and had gone on to feature in 1959’s Ben-Hur.
By mid-February 1964, after just six weeks of mechanical labour, the team had transformed the factory-finished car by fitting an arsenal that would elevate the car to the status of a motoring icon. Its paint job was also switched to the famous Silver Birch, the colour of course that everyone sees in their mind when they think of a DB5.
Q Branch Modifications
Goldfinger
• Hydraulic over-rider battering rams – front and rear extending from bumpers
• Left and right front-wing machine guns – concealed behind the indicator lights
• Tyre slasher – emerging from hub of rear passenger side wheel
• Radar tracker – concealed behind the radio speaker grille
• Radar scanner
• Ejector seat – engaged via button hidden in gearstick knob
• Bulletproof windscreen and glass
• Bulletproof rear screen – retractable
• Revolving number plates – England, France and Switzerland seen on screen
• Telephone – concealed in driver’s door panel
• Oil slick jet – from the rear
• Rear smoke screen
• Caltrop dispenser – not seen on screen
• Weapons tray – underneath driver’s seat with Armalite rifle, Mauser automatic pistol, a hand grenade, throwing knife (not seen on screen)
All Aston Martin DB5s are of course a bit special, and some have impressive racing pedigrees, but none of them were ever driven on film by one of the many actors who played James Bond. In 2019, though, a DB5 that was piloted by Sean Connery in 1964's "Goldfinger" was auctioned off by Sotheby's for $6.385 million.
It was one of four DB5s built specially for the film and loaned to Eon Productions, and had superspy-friendly features like a revolving license plate, .30-caliber Browning machine guns in the fenders, and oil slick and smoke screen dispensers for a safe getaway.
Rebuilding the legend
Tim - “Its true to say that the Aston Martin DB5 is a car that is reducing slowly in numbers and as the years pass by they are of course becoming a more valuable commodity to own, the days of finding an untouched original DB5 ‘barn find’ are very unlikely, even so, there are still plenty of examples out there still that are half finished or in need of a major overhaul.
The restoration of these cars is a very real skill that few can undertake with confidence. I have spent many years working with clients who restore classic Aston Martins and it is fair to say that these cars need to be ‘hand restored’ because they were originally ‘hand-built’. No two cars are the same, and they each have their little quirks, you can not just simply order a new bonnet online and have it delivered. Indeed you may well be able to source some parts but the reality is that those will need to be gently modified to fit the car that they are being fitted to. In many cases the parts are engineered from scratch, being rebuilt from the original plans and designs, and this is why a full Aston Martin restoration to bring a car back to the condition it was when it was new, and quite often better than it was, can take upwards of two years and cost a substantial amount of money.
There is of course balance in everything and whilst the restoration or ownership of a DB5 is out of reach for the majority of us mere mortals, it is within reach of some, and collectors around the world still have ‘their men’ that travel the world to source cars that are ready for a full restoration subsequently leading to them becoming a high-value asset at the end of the process.”
Tim - “I have seen quite a few Aston Martin DB5s go through their restoration process over the years, some are kept as original as possible and some are improved using modern engineering and parts to fit things like power steering and air conditioning, a must I would guess if the owner lives in the middle east for instance.
It is also fair to say that many of these cars leave their restoration to be picked up by a covered transport lorry and then when they arrive at their destination they are gently rolled out and go straight into long-term storage to live out their days as a perfect example of the model, forever encased in plastic wrap while the owner hopes it will gain value.
Every now and again however this is not the case and I remember very vividly being at Aston one bright and sunny Monday morning and bumping into a chap from Germany who was wondering around showing some of the showroom cars to his 10-year-old son. I asked him if he would like me to get one of the sales advisors out to assist him to which he replied ‘thank you but I am here to pick up my DB5, its been 18 months now and today is the day that we get to see it finally complete and as it should be’.
The workshop manager then duly appeared and introduced himself and suggested to him that if his transporter was not due for a few hours it might be nice for him to take the newly restored DB5 out for a test drive so he could enjoy the car a little before it is driven back to his home in Germany. The man turned to his son who started laughing with excitement and replied ‘We have not arranged any transport, we are going to drive the car back to Germany ourselves as I intend to be using the car every day and enjoy it’
I thought this was amazing to witness and I could very clearly see the absolute joy on the boy’s face, his dad was about to take delivery of a DB5, and his dad was about to become 007.
Limited Edition Aston Martin Prints
Many of these Aston Martin cars are quite literally sculptures of man's never-ending desire to craft that perfect line and beautiful body shape, all of which create an object of great desire that fires emotion within. These are in simple terms 'works of art' and as such we offer professional hand-crafted bespoke prints through our partner Limited100 to provide beautiful limited-edition prints for your home or office. Handcrafted in England, our automotive art is available in print-only, framed, canvas, aluminium composite and now, acrylic glass format. Any size, any style, delivered with care anywhere in the world, and always limited to 100.
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This gives you peace of mind and verifies that what you have bought is indeed a 'Limited' edition piece of work. Each certificate includes the edition number (e.g. '27/100') and is complete with the curator's and artist's signature, detailing also your artwork title, specific print details and format variation. On fine art paper prints, we also include a handwritten edition number displayed on the front of the work.
