LA Auto Show: James Bond, DB5 returns in Aston Martin showcase

With this year’s release of Skyfall and the 50th anniversary of the iconic James Bond movie series, Aston Martin has received increased exposure. The original 1964 DB5 returned from its heyday in Goldfinger and was featured and subsequently destroyed in the current film starring Daniel Craig.

Of course, it was a specially made, one-third scale DB5 that was destroyed in one of the movie’s climatic scenes. The original Aston Martin was displayed as part of the Aston Martin showcase at the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Because of its status in Goldfinger, the Aston Martin DB5 became one most famous cars in the world. According to Bond film lore, book author Ian Fleming had placed Bond in a DB Mark III in the novel, but the DB5 was the company’s latest model when the film was being made.

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The car used in the film was the original DB5 prototype, with another standard car used for stunts. To promote the film, the two DB5’s were showcased at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and it was dubbed “the most famous car in the world.” Sales of the car rose.

An Aston Martin representative at the LA Auto Show periodically gave demonstrations of some of the original Aston Martin functions, including sound effects used for the car’s weaponry. The razor-sharp extensions on the hubcaps of the rear wheels are also still there.

Additionally, the original sound track of Goldfinger played on the car’s sound system, with the sultry voice of Shirley Bassey.

The Aston Martin representative offered the carmaker offered a special advance screening of Skyfall with 400 Aston Martin clients.

“When the garage door opened in the film and there was the DB5, people cheered,” he said. “And when the bullets starting going into the car toward the end of the film, a few people in the theater started to cry.”

Aston Martin also showcased a half-dozen new models at the LA Auto Show, including a 2014 Vanquish Coupe.