Rarely do you come across a restoration story that feels as special as this one. Many people admire the Aston Martin DB5 from afar, particularly because of its association with James Bond (Sean Connery) 007, and yet very few spend 50 years holding on to such a model, through early adulthood, through career changes and over decades of everyday life.
John Williams did just that and decided in the early 1970s that he wanted a DB5. In 1973 he discovered one in Motorsport magazine; a 1965 DB5 Vantage, Silver Birch, Weber carburettor, chrome wiring, Sundym power windows, heated rear window and five-speed gearbox. Ironically, it was very close to the example in Goldfinger (1964).
The advert listed it for £985, but he paid £900, which is about $19,000 today. After a short test drive, he bought the car and drove the car home at the age of 19. The DB5 served as his daily driver until he went to work in Saudi Arabia in 1977. The car was left on the driveway, exposed to the elements. Sue Williams remembered children jumping on the hood and a child breaking the exhaust. The car’s condition continued to deteriorate, but Williams refused to sell it.
Over time he realized how rare his specification was. Of the 887 DB5 sedans, only 39 left the factory with the combination that his car carries: Silver Birch, Vantage engine and right-hand drive. That level of rarity matters in the collector car market, and you can see why he stuck with it.
In late 2022, he delivered the car to Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell, England, the same location where it was built almost six decades ago. It made sense to send it back to its birthplace. The timeless shape of the DB5 comes from the renowned Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring from Milan. Their Superleggera method created a lightweight steel frame encased in hand-formed aluminum panels. The result gave the DB5 its balanced proportions and clean finish and continued to inspire Marek Reichman’s latest creations and modern Astons.
The Works team had their hands full bringing this car back to life. They rebuilt the chassis and renewed the Superleggera frame, reshaped each aluminum panel by hand, refinished the interior, and retained the original seat frames and repaired instrument panel to maintain character. After three years and 2,500 hours of work, the team has resurrected one of the coolest cars of all time. It was their shared experience that made this possible and left John with tears in his eyes when he was finally shown the car.
A restored DB5 example with this specification would be fine for up to £1 million, about $1.26 million, making it among the most expensive Aston Martins, with screen-accurate DB5s fetching significantly more. If it receives a full factory restoration at Newport Pagnell, it will be viewed by the market in the same way as a Classiche-certified Ferrari or a Lamborghini converted under Polo Storico. These factory-supported programs confirm authenticity, maintain originality and document every phase of the work. This level of verification strengthens long-term value and reduces risk for collectors.
Images: Aston Martin
