bLavish

Original 007 Astin Martin DB5 for Auction

June 2, 2010 | Posted by bLavish as Auctions at 10:51 am | (1) Comment »

RM Auctions will be auctioning off the most expensive car of its kind – one of only two – and only one remaining – original 007 Aston Martin DB5 movie car at its October 27, 2010 “Automobiles of London” auction at Battersea Evolution in London.

Two Aston Martin DB5s were used on screen for the production of the timeless 1960’s James Bond classics, Goldfinger and Thunderball. One of those two cars was reported stolen in 1997 and is believed to have been destroyed. The other is the FMP 7B, which will be auctioned off. The car features silver birch exterior paint and dark gray leather interior.

Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 and its gadgets were the brainchild of Oscar-award-winning special effects expert John Stears, also of Star Wars and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fame. The car was sold in 1969 to American Jerry Lee, who became FMP 7B’s first ex-factory and remaining owner. The car was originally purchased from the Aston Martin factory for $12,000. For a time, Lee agreed to allow Aston Martin to continue to use FMP 7B for promotional purposes in the United States. Today, the odometer shows approximately 30,000 miles, primarily from its tour usage. A careful re-commissioning program was recently undertaken by RM Auto Restoration, returning the car to running condition after its long-term static storage.

Proceeds of the sale of FMP 7B (which are anticipated to be around $5 million) will be used to further the charitable work of ‘The Jerry Lee Foundation’, a multi-national initiative dedicated to solving social problems associated with poverty, with an emphasis on crime prevention. RM Auctions is the world’s largest collector car auction house and specializes in investment-quality automobiles, holding four of the top five world record prices for motor cars sold at auction.  For more information, visit www.rmauctions.com.