Gadgets galore on Aston Martin’s Goldfinger DB5 continuation cars

It’s been 55 years after James Bond thwarted a plan to rob Fort Knox, diffused an atomic dirty bomb, and left Goldfinger “playing his golden harp.” Now, 007’s iconic British sports car is one step closer to returning to the spotlight. Aston Martin, working with EON Productions’ Oscar-winning special effects guru Chris Corbould, OBE (Order of the British Empire), is developing a limited run of 25 Goldfinger DB5 continuation cars, complete with functioning gadgets that would make Q smile.

The Bond-inspired cars—aside from being remarkable to begin with as new-build DB5s—will feature revolving number plates, a rear smoke-screen system, and several additional gadgets. Here’s the bummer: the Goldfinger cars won’t be street legal. Not only that, each special-edition DB5 is expected to cost £2,750,000—approximately $3,560,000 as of this writing—plus taxes. Delivery begins in 2020.

If you’re able to move past those possible hurdles, the list of Goldfinger gadgets will include gizmos like these featured in the 1964 movie car (subject to final engineering approval):

Exterior:

• Rear smoke-screen delivery system
• Rear simulated oil slick delivery system
• Revolving number plates front and rear (triple plates)
• Simulated twin front machine guns
• Bullet-resistant rear shield
• Battering rams front and rear

Interior:

• Simulated radar screen tracker map
• Telephone in driver’s door
• Gear knob actuator button
• Armrest- and center console-mounted switchgear
• Under-seat hidden weapons/storage tray

“The main challenge has been to recreate the gadgets from the film world and transfer them into a consumer product,” Corbould explained. “We have license in the film world to ‘cheat’ different aspects under controlled conditions. For instance, we might have four different cars to accommodate four different gadgets. We obviously don’t have that luxury on these DB5s, as all the gadgets have to work in the same car all the time.”

According to Aston Martin, the new cars “will be authentic reproductions of the DB5 seen on screen, with some sympathetic modifications to ensure the highest levels of build quality and reliability. Similarly, all the Goldfinger edition cars will be produced to one exterior color specification—Silver Birch paint—just like the original.”

The cars will be built at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, the historic home of the brand for more than half a century, where all 898 original DB5 sports cars were built from 1963–65.

“As work progresses on these remarkable cars, it’s both exciting and a little sobering to think that we are truly making history here,” said Paul Spires, President of Aston Martin Works, who called the project “a real career highlight for everyone involved here.”