The Aston Martin DB5 is often called the most famous car in the world, and the price history backs the claim: one of the original film cars sold for 6.385 million dollars in 2019. Strip away James Bond, though, and the DB5 is still a beautifully built 145 mph grand tourer that would be desirable on its own merits.
Why is the Aston Martin DB5 the most famous car in the world?
It earned the title through Goldfinger, the 1964 James Bond film in which Sean Connery drove a silver DB5 fitted with an ejector seat, revolving number plates and hidden machine guns. The car returned in Thunderball a year later, and the image of Bond's Aston fixed the DB5 in popular memory in a way no marketing budget could.
That fame carries a real premium. One of the two surviving Goldfinger promotional cars sold through RM Sotheby's in 2019 for 6.385 million dollars, and Aston Martin later built 25 "Goldfinger Continuation" DB5s in 2020, complete with working gadgets, for buyers who wanted the film car rather than a standard one.
What is the DB5 underneath the fame?
Beneath the gadgets sits a genuine grand tourer: a 4.0-litre straight-six of around 282 bhp, a five-speed ZF gearbox and a top speed close to 145 mph. The body used the Superleggera method licensed from Touring of Milan, draping thin aluminium panels over a light tubular frame, which kept the weight down and the shape elegant.
The car took its name from David Brown, the industrialist who owned Aston Martin and whose initials began every DB model. Launched in 1963 as the successor to the DB4, the DB5 was a fast, expensive and refined car for its day, long before a film crew ever touched one.
How rare is the Aston Martin DB5?
Aston Martin built only 1,059 DB5s between 1963 and 1965, which makes even a standard car scarce. Most were saloons, with a small run of convertibles and a handful of rare shooting brakes converted for owners who wanted to carry more.
| Variant | Approx. built | Note | Collector standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saloon | ~887 | The standard, most common DB5 | Strong six-figure market |
| Convertible | 123 | Later badged Volante | Premium over the saloon |
| Shooting brake | 12 | Estate conversion by Radford | Rare, highly prized |
| Bond / Continuation | 25 (2020) | Factory film-spec, not road-legal | Millions, a class apart |
That small output is one reason values stay high even for cars with no film connection, much as low production underpins the earliest Jaguar E-Type examples.
How much is a DB5 worth today?
A well-kept standard DB5 saloon generally trades from around 700,000 dollars into seven figures, while the film and continuation cars sit far above that. Condition, originality and documentation drive the difference, the same factors that set prices across the top of the collector market.
The record belongs to provenance. The 6.385 million dollar sale in 2019 was not for the fastest or the prettiest DB5 but for a documented Goldfinger car, which is exactly how history outweighs horsepower on our guide to the most expensive cars ever sold at auction.
Where does the DB5 sit in the quiet-luxury canon?
The DB5 is understated in a way its fame is not. It is a restrained, hand-built British GT that whispers where a supercar shouts, and that quiet confidence is the same quality that makes the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR so admired among people who collect on taste.
Fame gave the DB5 its reputation, but the engineering earned its place. It is fast, elegant and rare, and it wears its status lightly, which is the whole appeal of a car built for those who already know what it is.
Frequently asked questions
How many Aston Martin DB5s were made? Aston Martin built about 1,059 between 1963 and 1965, most of them saloons, plus 123 convertibles and twelve shooting brakes.
Which James Bond films featured the DB5? The DB5 first appeared in Goldfinger in 1964 and returned in Thunderball in 1965, and it has been referenced in several later Bond films.
How fast is an Aston Martin DB5? Its 4.0-litre straight-six produced around 282 bhp and gave a top speed close to 145 mph, quick for a grand tourer of the mid-1960s.
