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VINTAGE: James Bond DB5 Sells For $4.6M
Aston Martin from"Goldfinger" complete with working spy gadgets auctioned by RM during London event.
Bob Golfen  |  Posted October 27, 2010   London (GBR)
Considered to be the world's most famous car, the spy-equipped Aston Martin DB5 used in "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball" was sold at auction for $4.6 million. (Photo: RM Auctions)
The most-famous car in movie history, the spy-gadget-enhanced 1964 Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in the James Bond movie “Goldfinger,” sold today for $4.6 million (including auction fees) by RM Auctions in London.

Included in the sale are the hideaway machine guns, ejector seat, bullet-proof shield, smoke screen, revolving license plates and other tricks of the spy trade that helped Bond elude bad guys in “Goldfinger” and later, “Thunderball.”

Master spy James Bond accessed his array of anti-bad-guy gadgets via switches hidden under a flip-open console, as seen through the ejector-seat roof opening. (Photo: RM Auctions)
The DB5 is one of two that were used in James Bond movies, the other one reported stolen in 1997 and never recovered. The Aston sold today is essentially original but restored to running condition by the Ontario, Canada-based RM Auctions experts.

The car was consigned by Philadelphia radio personality Jerry Lee, who bought the car in 1969 for $12,000 after it had been used on tour to promote the films. It was purchased today by noted car collector Harry Yeaggy of Ohio, who intends to put it on display.

“This is a car that I’ve always wanted; after all it is the most famous car in the world,” Yeaggy said after the sale. “My plan is to display it in my private car museum in Ohio just as it is.”

The final bid of $4.1 million was below the auction company’s presale estimate of $5.5 million but still a solid sale for the iconic piece of movie history. Proceeds from the Aston’s sale will benefit the Jerry Lee Foundation, which focuses on social problems associated with poverty, particularly through crime prevention.

This is not the first time that a James Bond DB5 has crossed the block at an RM auction. In 2006 at RM’s auction in Phoenix, Arizona, a working replica of the DB5 that had been used by the film studio for promotions sold for $2.1 million, including auction fees.

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