1964 Aston Martin DB5 Coupe

The Aston Martin DB5 was introduced at the 1963 Earls Court Motor Show. It had similar Touring-designed coachwork to the DB4 and an enlarged 4-liter version of Tadek Marek's race-engineered aluminum engine. It was a superior driver's car thanks to 170 improvements over the preceding model. Its legacy and popularity skyrocketed after being featured in the 1965 James Bond film, Goldfinger. Built through 1965, a total of 1,021 examples were made.

This particular original examples has had nearly four decades of ownership by its current owner. Chassis number 1305/L was optioned from the factory with overdrive and a final-drive ratio of 3.77:1. It was given three-eared hubcaps over chrome wheels, and Ace number plates reading 'DB5 1964.' It was completed by the Aston Martin factory in October of 1963 and finished in Platinum (white) paint and trimmed with dark blue Vaumol leather from Connolly Brothers. According to its chassis number, it was the fifth saloon built.

It was sold through British Motor Car distributors in San Francisco and was one of the first to be sold on the West Coast. It was acquired new by the Washington Fruit and Produce Company of Yakima, Washington, on behalf of John Bloxom, the company's owner and manager. It was acquired in mid-June 1964 and often driven 120 miles each month to a related business division in Hood River, Oregon. It was sold in the mid-1970s and passed to one or two intermediaries over the next few years before becoming available for sale in 1981 in Sausalito, California. That is when the car entered the care of its current San Francisco owner and has been in his care for 38 years.

This Aston Martin has never been completely restored. It has been regularly maintained and received some cosmetic refurbishments along the way. The front seats have been reupholstered in Connolly leather, and the body was taken down to bare metal and repainted in lacquer, all in keeping with the proper original color scheme of Platinum over dark blue.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2020