Aston Martin DB5 Review & Buying Guide (1963-1966)

• The Aston Martin DB5 was only built across three years, totalling (approximately) 1,059
• The DB5 is 4.5 metres long, 1.6 metres wide, and weighs 1,502kg in standard form
• The engine is a 4.0-litre straight-six petrol with three SU carburettors, and usually fitted with a five-speed ZF manual gearbox (an automatic was optional)
• The DB5 was mostly built as a coupe (more than 800) but 123 were made as convertibles, and there were a handful of ‘Shooting Brake’ two-door estates

The Aston Martin DB5 stands a very good chance of being the most recognisable single car in the world. That’s mostly down to the fact that, back in 1964, it became the company car of a well-known tuxedo-wearing British civil servant. OK, it was James Bond, and the DB5 — in Silver Birch paintwork, with its ejector seat and machine guns — has become utterly synonymous with the greatest secret agent in the world (aside from Dangermouse of course).

That fame belies the fact that the DB5 was made in small numbers, with just over 1,000 being built at Aston Martin’s old Newport Pagnell factory between 1963 and 1965, when it was replaced by the longer, roomier, slightly heavier DB6 which would remain in production until 1970.

Thanks to its 007 connection, though, it’s the DB5 that is the more famous, more desirable car (there were real celebrity owners too — Paul McCartney and George Harrison both had one, as did Peter Sellers and supermodel Elle McPherson). It’s a staggeringly expensive car to buy, maintain, and run but then it’s also a staggeringly valuable car, with the best versions valued at close to £1,000,000.

The 4.0-litre straight-six engine is powerful, even by modern standards (original Vantage versions, with three specially tuned Weber carburettors, claimed 325hp and modern, uprated versions of the engine can produce far more than that) but the DB5 is heavy by the standards of the 1960s, and is more GT than sports car.

The DB5 is also kind of the car that refused to die, carrying on as a convertible-only model through 1965, badged as the ‘Short Chassis Volante’. Aston even put the DB5 back into production in 2020, making 25 brand-new versions complete with James Bond ‘gadgets’ from scratch for wealthy customers, although technically these weren’t road legal. The producers of the James Bond films also made their own brand new DB5s for the most recent film, No Time To Die, although these were stunt cars with reproduction DB5 bodies and interiors built on a BMW E46 M3 coupe chassis and engine.

Is the Aston Martin DB5 a good car?

Pros

• Glamorous image and gorgeous styling
• Aston Martin can supply pretty much every spare part
• Powerful 4.0-litre engine easily keeps up with modern traffic

Cons

• Heavy, and feels it
• Cramped rear seats (a DB6 is considerably roomier in the back)
• Painfully expensive to buy, run, and maintain

The DB5’s trump card is its styling, and while the image and badge might scream ‘Britain’s best’, actually the DB5 wears an Italian suit. The bodywork, and the underlying structure of lightweight steel tubes which support it — hence the ‘Superleggera’ badge on the edges of the bonnet — came from Touring of Milan, and the DB5’s styling is credited to designer Federico Formenti.

The DB5 was a development of the older DB4 (in production from 1958 until 1963) and it’s actually easy to mistake an older DB4 GT, which came with similar faired-in headlights, for a DB5.

The DB5’s 4.0-litre engine was also a development from the DB4, an update of that car’s 3.7-litre unit. The engine — one of only two engines ever designed entirely in-house by Aston Martin (the other being the later 5.3-litre V8) — was the work of Tadek Marek, a Polish-born racing driver who had helped to design the engine for the British Centurion tank during the Second World War.

In standard form with three SU carburettors, the 4.0-litre engine would produce a claimed 282hp, although that was probably a touch optimistic. Nonetheless, Aston Martin claimed a 0-60mph time of 8.0 seconds, very rapid for the day. The later Vantage versions, featuring a tuned engine with three Weber carburettors, claimed 325hp but only 65 of those were built. Many standard DB5s have been upgraded to Vantage spec in the years since, however.

The early (and troublesome) David Brown four-speed gearbox was quickly replaced by a more robust ZF-sourced five-speed unit, while a three-speed Borg-Warner automatic was available (although many of those will have been converted back to manual since, as the market doesn’t rate the autos).

The DB5, in spite of its rakish looks and Bond connection, is not a sports car and shouldn’t be driven like one. It’s too heavy (by the standards of the 1960s) and softly sprung for that. Instead, it’s a car for cruising at high speed across Europe, whether you’re tracking a nefarious gold smuggler in his Rolls-Royce, or if you’re just heading to the Cote D’Azur for a bit of a break.

What to look out for

All Aston Martin DB5s were hand-built, with the aluminium bodywork hand-formed on rollers from huge sheets. So each car is ever so slightly unique, which can seriously drive up repair and replacement costs. The enormous popularity of the DB5 means that Aston Martin itself, or various marque specialists, make replacements for any body or mechanical part you might need, but unless you’re a Euromillions winner, the prices for everything will make you wince.

One of the biggest issues with the DB5 is that it uses aluminium bodywork over a steel skeleton. This ‘Superleggera’ construction was developed by Touring of Milan for its combination of lightness and strength, but the problem is that where aluminium touches the steel, you can get electrolytic corrosion, which ruins both the bodywork and the structure beneath. Originally, the two metals were separated by little cloth windings, but this would get damp and just make things worse.

The good news is that, for the most part, DB5s are so valuable now that all but a few will have been restored and updated to combat this issue, but be careful — at one time in the 1990s, DB5 values dropped as low as £20,000 (!) and that means that some poorly-cared-for examples are still out there. You’ll definitely need a specialist inspection before buying, or pay the premium to buy from a recognised Aston Martin specialist.

The 4.0-litre engine is essentially quite robust (hence why it responds well to modern tuning and power upgrades) but to care for it properly means regular oil changes and close attention paid to the timing chain. One common issue is drains in the cooling system becoming blocked, meaning that the engine overheats and cooks its head gasket or, worse, warps the head entirely. Common upgrades include a ‘fast road engine’ setup, while it’s possible to bore the straight-six out to 4.2 litres or even 4.7 litres for maximum power.

The five-speed ZF gearbox is pretty solid though, so just needs regular oil changes to stay healthy. A six-speed upgrade is available from some Aston Martin specialists.

The suspension — a live rear axle with trailing arms and a Watts linkage, and front lower wishbones with a kingpin upper link — is solid too, but beware corrosion where the suspension pickups are connected to the bodywork. Sloppy handling and steering will likely be down to worn suspension bushes. Again, there are copious upgrades available for the suspension, the tyres, and the gorgeous chrome wire wheels with their knock-off hubs.

What is the best one to buy?

If you’re buying for investment, then the best DB5 will be an original convertible (the DB5 was never badged as Volante — that was seen as a separate model entirely). Only 123 DB5 convertibles were made originally, so they’re rare and finding a truly original one will be tricky. Most DB5s will have been restored at least once in the 60 years since production ended, and some will have been restored twice, so tracking down one with as much originality as possible will bring you rewards when it comes to sell again.

If you’re not looking at a DB5 as an investment, then a coupe is far easier to find, although it’s arguably just a bit too predictable to have one in Goldfinger-spec Silver Birch with black interior. Aston offered many other lovely colours in period, and there are some genuinely beautiful dark green and blue DB5s out there.

Sympathetic upgrades to the suspension, engine, and electrical system are all worth having, and certainly make the DB5 more driveable on modern roads, but always remember that originality is key to the car’s value, so make sure that any mods can be reversed, and that they were carried out by recognised marque experts.

The tiny number of Shooting Brake estates — one was made specially by Aston for the company boss, David Brown, and another 11 or 12 were converted from coupes by the Radford company — are incredibly valuable thanks to their rarity. If you find one, be prepared to pay seven figures for it.

Aston Martin DB5 price guide

Values for DB-badged Aston Martins have softened a bit of late, but you’re still looking at a potential high-six-figure price tag for an original, or very well-restored, DB5. The cheapest that you’ll find will hover at around the £300,000-400,000 mark but the best examples will be in the £600,000-900,000 band, with convertibles and Shooting Brakes easily topping £1 million. The original car used in the making of Goldfinger, thought lost after it was stolen from an airport in Florida in 1997, was recently found in the Middle East, and is thought to be worth as much as £25 million. Paul McCartney’s DB5 sold at auction for £1.3 million.

Maintenance is hugely expensive, although it should be seen in the context of the overall value. A full ground-up restoration can cost at least £300,000 and potentially much more. An engine rebuild costs around £50,000, while a full cabin retrim might cost as much as £100,000.

History of the Aston Martin DB5

• 1963. The DB5 makes its debut in October, taking over from the DB4, and using an enlarged 4.0-litre engine and a four-speed David Brown manual gearbox.
• 1964. ZF five-speed gearbox, originally an option, becomes standard.
• 1964. Vantage model introduced with three Weber carburettors and a claimed 325hp
• 1964. Goldfinger is released in cinemas, making the DB5 arguably the single most famous car in the world.
• 1965. Production of the DB5 ends, with 899 coupes (Aston called them saloons) built, 123 convertibles, and 12 Shooting Brakes.
• 1965. DB5 convertible production continues alongside new DB6 coupe, although the convertible is now badged as the ‘Short Chassis Volante’, the first time that an Aston convertible is called a Volante.
• 1995. DB5 returns to Bond duty in GoldenEye, and will be used again in Tomorrow Never Dies, Casino Royale, Skyfall, Spectre, and No Time To Die.
• 2020. Aston Martin puts the DB5 back into production, complete with Goldfinger-style gadgets, as a limited run of 25 hand-made examples, built from the original blueprints.

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