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First Aston Martin DB5 Goldfinger Continuation complete

Two years ago, Aston Martin announced a run of 25 DB5 Continuation cars that would be track-only reproductions of the gadget-laden DB5 from the James Bond movie "Goldfinger." A long gestation involved collaborating with Bond production house Eon Productions and longtime Bond stunt coordinator Chris Corbould on gadget reproductions. About six weeks ago the English luxury maker announced it had begun building the first DB5 from scratch and by hand, mainly using the same techniques that went into creating the original DB5, saying each car would need about 4,500 man-hours to fabricate. Today we have the first fruit from Aston Martin's Heritage Division workshop in Newport Pagnell, England. All trickery is accounted for with the show car, including recoiling machine gun barrels that erupt from behind the headlights, front and rear bumper battering rams, tire slashers, revolving triple license plates, rear smoke screen and oil spray systems, a bulletproof shield rising from the decklid, telephone in the driver's door, center console radar screen, weapons tray under the seats, an ejector seat button under the shift knob to send ornery passengers through the partial sunroof, and a remote control to work Q Branch's driver safety features when away from the leather-wrapped seats. Anything deadly only simulates genuine operation, naturally. But the smokescreen works and the oil delivery system sprays real fluid, so we see some hot-lap mishaps and cleanups at Turn 4 in some track's future. The first DB5 built in 55 years comes with a 4.0-liter straight-six sprouting three SU carburetors, shooting 290 horsepower to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox and a mechanical limited-slip differential. Deliveries are certain to begin soon, each of the 25 examples starting at GBP2.7 million (about $3.4M U.S.). That's real money, sure, but a half-off bargain compared to the $6.4M paid for the 1964 DB5 used in the movie. Related Video:

Aston wants to build DBX on its new platform, not Mercedes'

Aston Martin is proceeding with plans to launch the DBX as its first production crossover. It just can't say at this point what it will be based on. Speaking with Automotive News Europe, Aston's new CEO Andy Palmer indicated that basing the DBX on a Mercedes SUV platform would not be its first choice because they "clearly sit in a very different space to the one we want to go" with the DBX. Instead, the company's first choice would be to build the crossover atop the new platform it's developing for its sports cars. "It just depends how high off the ground it could go," said Palmer. "I don't exclude the possibility of using some [Mercedes] parts, but I would say very much the primary route is our platform." The prospect of building an Aston SUV on Mercedes architecture – namely that of the GL-Class – has been on the table for some time now. The Lagonda SUV concept it showcased at the Geneva show in 2009 was based on the GL, and the two automakers have been forging a tightening alliance in the years since. The British automaker's next-generation engine is to be built by Mercedes-AMG, and it is expected to source other components from the German automaker as well. For its part, Mercedes has been taking a sportier approach with its latest crossovers, as demonstrated by the GLE Coupe that debuted before the more conventional version and the Concept GLC Coupe that previewed the GLK's replacement in Shanghai last month. Aston Martin, on the other hand, is building a new sports car platform that will underpin its next generation of luxury GTs, replacing the long-serving VH architecture that has served for decades as the basis for its entire model line. Perhaps the most surprising of ANE's report, though, is that Aston seems to be proceeding with plans to build the DBX apparently without even knowing what platform it will use.

World's Largest Collection Of James Bond Cars On Sale

A Miami real estate developer is selling his entire massive collection of James Bond memorabilia. Valued at $33.25 million, the collection is considered the largest in the world, and will only be sold to a buyer willing to take the whole thing. Michael Dezer began buying Bond cars in 2011, when he snatched up dozens of the super spy's on-screen rides from the James Bond Museum in Keswick, England, Autoblog reports. Since then, Dezer has amassed 59 cars, the rides coming from movies like Goldeneye, Skyfall and The Spy Who Loved Me. The ensemble also includes boats, tanks, jet skis, motorcycles and thousands of other pieces of memorabilia. The lucky buyer of this collection would even get the yacht used in From Russia With Love. An agency in the United Kingdom is handling the sale of the collection. Related Gallery Editors' Picks: The Most Beautiful Cars On The Road View 10 Photos Aston Martin Automotive History Ownership selling famous cars