Iconic Aston Martin driven by James Bond sells for £326k… but it needs a bit of work before you get it on the road

AN Aston Martin driven by James Bond has sold for £326k, but it needs some work before getting on the road.

The classic grey 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Sports Saloon was stripped back and taken apart ahead of a restoration in 1976.

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But the project never happened and all of the original parts were neatly packed away and labelled.

Now, the car has finally been sold, with the distinctive shell of the iconic “James Bond” motor arriving with the rest of its parts in separate boxes.

The DB5 is the most famous of all the 007 Aston Martins, appearing in five films including Goldfinger, starring Sean Connery as Bond (1964).

The Aston Martin in its unfinished form is valued at the comparatively low price of £300,000.

However, if a patient buyer successfully finishes the jigsaw puzzle of parts and completes the build, the value could rise to a whopping £600k.

The classic motor was bought by a German car collector from a Scotsman in 1976.

He then stripped the car down to its famous grey chassis ahead of a planned restoration after a paint job had gone wrong.

However, the company set to carry out the restoration went bust before the project could be carried out, and the owner’s own lack of funds prevented him from paying to have it rebuilt.

The collector stored away the shell and when he died his wife kept it untouched for years in the garage.

After being guarded in his family’s garage, it was bought by the current seller, and remains in pristine condition despite being disassembled, with even the front seats and wheels removed from the body of the car.

The shell comes with a stack of boxes containing important parts and the original dark red leather seats.

It has a 4 litre five-speed engine producing 282bhp and a top speed of 145mph.

And the model was so popular that Corgi toys produced miniature DB5s in silver with red interior.

The car went under the hammer at auctioneers Bonhams who held the sale at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in Chichester, West Sussex.

A Bonhams spokesperson said: “The DB5 was the first and remains the most famous of all the ‘James Bond’ Aston Martins, having appeared in no fewer than five movies of the series beginning with Goldfinger in 1964.

“In 1976 this DB5 was brought from the UK to Germany.

“The then-owner commissioned a company which unfortunately filed for insolvency during the restoration and was unable to complete the work.

“His dream was turning into a nightmare, costing him a lot of money, so he decided to store the DB5 as it was, and it remains in a dismantled state.

“Aston only produced just over 1,000 DB5s in period so they always have been very exclusive – more so now than ever.

“Project cars are obviously even rarer and thus this is a wonderful opportunity for someone to recreate their very own DB5 from authentic components.”

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