55 years after the last DB5 rolled off the proverbial conveyor belt, Aston Martin has confirmed that production of the limited edition ‘DB5 Goldfinger Continuation’ special edition series is now under way.
Announced back in August 2018, and following in the footsteps of the DB4 GT Zagato Continuation, the DB5 Goldfinger Continuation is limited to just 25 examples, and pays homage to the 1964 movie of the same name in which 007’s most famous daily driver made its debut. Like the original DB5, work will be completed at Aston’s facility in Newport Pagnall, UK.
Fittingly, given that every Goldfinger Continuation model will be “meticulously detailed authentic reproductions of the DB5 seen on screen”, each one will come equipped with pretty much every gadget as its cinematic counterpart. On the exterior, these include front and rear battering rams, a bullet resistant rear shield, and a host of ‘simulated’ components like twin front machine guns, tyre slashers, twin front machine guns, and rear delivery systems for both a smoke screen and oil slick.
Said gadgets continue in the cabin, and include – deep breath – a simulated radar screen tracker map, switchgear for [Eyes Only] mounted in the armrest and centre console, a remote control for gadget activation, a telephone in the driver’s door, and a weapon’s tray under the seat. The latter two in particular will raise the eyebrows of 007 devotees, given that these features were built into the original movie’s prototype but never made it to screen.
Before you ask, yes, there is a removable passenger seat roof panel available as an optional extra, and you will find the famous ‘actuator button’ under the lip of the gear knob. However, in much the same way that Q never jokes about his work 007, Aston Martin won’t be cocking about with British and European road regulations, so don’t expect the ejector seat to be included as part of the Continuation package.
The ‘enhancements’, as they’re referred to, have been developed for real-world (simulated) application by Chris Cobauld OBE. The special effects specialist already has Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight series, X-Men: First Class, Star Wars episodes VII and VIII, and every Eon Productions Bond film since 1985’s A View to a Kill on his stacked resume, and for his work on 2010’s Inception, he received an Academy Award. He loves gold.
Like the sub-900 saloon examples built between 1963 and 1965, each of the Continuation models features original DB5-styled aluminium exterior body panels – all painted Silver Birch, unsurprisingly – mounted to an “authentic” mild steel chassis. Peel back the bonnet and you’ll find a 4-litre, naturally-aspirated six-cylinder which sends 290bhp to the rear wheels via a ZF five-speed manual gearbox. A mechanical limited slip differential, servo-assisted hydraulic Girling-type steel disc brakes, and rack and pinion steering completes the package.
Each ‘Continuation’ model is priced at £2.75 million (close to $3.4 million USD), plus change – yikes! – and deliveries are set to begin later this year.
News of production comes hot on the heels of a busy few months for Gaydon. Alongside Millbrook’s 50th anniversary, site [cough] of Casino Royale’s Guinness World Record-breaking barrel roll, Aston this week confirmed that Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers will replace Dr Andy Palmer as the marque’s CEO. The British carmaker is also gearing up to rejoin the Formula 1 grid in 2021 as an official factory entrant for the first time in over 60 years in 2021, and is still allocating the 88 examples of its new V12 Speedster to customers.
*Images courtesy of Aston Martin
