Aston DB5 sells for £860,600 at auction

A 1965 Aston Martin DB5 Sports saloon sold for £860,600 at auction. The car was the star at Bonhams Aston Martin sale, held at the Wormsley Estate in Buckinghamshire, in conjunction with the Aston Martin Owners’ Club’s Spring Concours.

The subject of a recent ‘no expense spared’ restoration, it was finished in Silver Birch paintwork and black leather interior. The DB5 sparked a three-way USA, Scandinavian and UK bidding war before finally being sold to a telephone bidder in the UK.

Also breaking through the £800,000 barrier was a 1963 DB4 Series V Convertible, one of only 70 models produced. This example, bearing the ‘Gold Standard’ of the Aston Martin Assured Provenance bumper to bumper inspection, went for £810,200.

The Seventies’ classic V8 Series 4 ‘Oscar India’ sports saloon, (estimated at £70,000 - £90,000) achieved £132,250. This 1979 example, believed to have been supplied new to the Sultan of Oman, was bought by a UK bidder following another Trans-Atlantic bidding battle.

Other results included:

• 1966 DB6 Sports Saloon, estimated at £200,000 - £250,000 and extensively restored between 2015 and 2018, realised £250,125.
• 1955 DB2/4 3.0 litre Sports Saloon, estimated at £100,000 - £120,000, sold for £120,750.
• 1952 Lagonda 2.6 litre Drophead Coupé, the oldest car on offer at the sale and estimated at £70,000 - £80,000, achieved £80,500.

Tim Schofield, Bonhams head of motoring UK, said, ‘This was a fantastic result for the DB5 – and proves the perennial popularity of the quintessential ‘Bond’ car. The last three DB5s sold by Bonhams at Wormsley, Goodwood and in our Bond Street sale have all realised strong over-estimate results.

‘This is a very impressive result for this particular car, which has been restored without regard to expense, and is the highest price paid in the last few years for a right-hand drive DB5 without 'Bond' or celebrity-related provenance; showing that the market has yet again concurred with the specialist views.’

Bonhams’ next UK motor car sale will be the Festival of Speed Sale at Goodwood on 5 July.