It was a 1964 Aston Martin DB5, exactly the kind of car British secret agent James Bond drove in the 1960s films in which he was played by Connery.
The Bond character has been played by a number of actors and driven many different cars in over two dozen films in the series. They’ve included everything from BMWs and Bentleys to Chevrolets and Fords. But the 1964 is still the the best known “Bond car”.
The one Connery first drove in the 1964 film ‘Goldfinger’ was an Aston Martin DB5 filled with gadgets like machine guns, an ejection seat and an oil slick maker. More than 50 years later, Connery bought a 1964 DB5 for himself – even though it lacked the guns and gadgets of the movie car. – in early 2018. Connery died almost two years later at the age of 90. It was only DB5 he actually owned.
At $2.4 million, which included fees from auction company Broad Arrow, the car fetched more than originally expected. The company expected it to sell for between $1.4 million and $1.8 million at its collector car auction in Monterey, California. The buyer has not been named. The auction is one of many collectible car sales during Monterey Car Week, an annual series of classic car events on California’s Monterey Peninsula.
A 1964 Aston Martin DB5 in this car’s pristine condition would typically be worth around $1 million, according to auto insurance and event company Hagerty, which recently took full ownership of Broad Arrow.
During his life, Connery had often told his children about his fond memories of driving the Aston Martin in movies, his son Jason Connery said in an interview. When they were older, they suggested their father buy one, but he resisted the idea.
“He was like, ‘I don’t want to because it’s kind of obvious, you know, with me,'” Jason Connery said. “I said, ‘But forget it, it’s not about that. “”
Barney Ruprecht, an Aston Martin specialist at Broad Arrow who had also consulted with Connery on the purchase, advised Connery against getting a car in need of restoration because the work would likely take a few years, he said. Instead, he and Connery searched for a car that was in as perfect a condition as possible. The car remains in roughly this condition, according to Ruprecht, with only a few creases in the seat leather as evidence that it has been sat.
Once Connery bought the car, he had it painted from black to Snow Shadow Grey, the closest color to the car in the film.
But once this work was completed, there was little time left to conduct it.
“Unfortunately, as we get older, traveling, especially in Europe [became difficult] and then COVID hit and…” Jason Connery said. “You know, unfortunately, he never really got to enjoy the car he bought.”
The car was kept by Connery at his home in Switzerland, according to Jason Connery. He loved the car so much that he kept a picture of it on his desk.
A substantial a portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to support the Connery Family Philanthropy Fund, according to the Broad Arrow Group. As well as the car itself, the winning bidder will receive a ride in the car of famous retired Formula 1 driver Jackie Stewart.
Stewart, like Connery, is from Scotland and the two were longtime friends.
