Fast Cars - The World’s Most Famous Sports Car (Part 1)
In 1959, Ian Fleming penned Goldfinger and inserted his secret agent hero, James Bond, into a 1959 Astin Martin DB-3. There was a lag between the story’s release, however, and the motion picture that shared its name. By the time Sean Connery was prepared to take out Goldfinger, the DB-3 seemed dated. James Bond got behind the wheel of a 1963 Astin Martin DB-5 and made it the most famous sports car in the world.
Sports cars are wonderful, but the Bond car had a few special features that made it even more appealing to moviegoers. It was outfitted with bulletproof glass, machine guns, and other assorted gadgetry. Its understated color scheme fit the Bond character perfectly, and the car’s role in the film afforded it significant screen time. Within a few years, there would be no better-known sports car in the world.
The Astin Martin DB-5 was a fine car in its own right, but the popularity of Goldfinger and Thunderball (in which it also appeared) elevated it to a global phenomena. Even today, after countless intervening James Bond movies, when someone says they want a “Bond car,” the mind races back to the DB-5 made famous over forty years ago.
An American eventually purchased the original Bond car and kept it in superb condition, using it primarily for special appearances and events. In 1999, the DB-5 was stolen from outside a Boca Raton, Florida airport. The would-be thief didn’t blend into traffic well in the Astin Martin and was apprehended.