DB65 Shooting Brake

Achtung, öffnet in einem neuen Fenster.

Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake

Which car would James (Martini) Bond have driven had he chosen to hand in his gun and give up his job after Goldfinger? An Aston Martin? Sure, but which one?

Q would have probably had fun developing a family friendly Aston if he had been asked to do so. No machine guns, no smoke screens and also no rotating number plates. Instead a nappy holder, dog bowls with food cartridges, a martini glass holder and of course significantly more room on the inside. Gone are the times when the front passenger seat was occupied by excited females who, if necessary, could be catapulted using the rocket driven ejector seat through the expanded sunroof. And gone are the times when the back seats and luggage compartment fall a victim to design and where pragmatism meant removing row upon row of black limousines from your rear-view mirror. Therefore the perfect drivable saucer for the private James Bond can only be called: "Aston Martin DB5 Shooting Brake".

Well that was fiction, now to reality:

Get rid of Q, put in David Brown. 1965, when the successor to the world-famous DB5 achieved serial production, the development department at Aston Martin received an unusual order: David Brown, namesake to all DBS's and owner of the British car manufacturer, requested a car which offered the quality of a DB5 combined with enough room for his polo bag and his dogs. A trailer was out of the question simply on the grounds of style. So there was only one solution, which 45 years later is simply described as a lifestyle estate and can be seen parked on parking lots at shopping centres or golf courses by well to-do mothers and freshly-hatched fathers.

In 1966 DB toured his Shooting Brake through England, transported in it his dogs or his polo bag and aroused the desire in numerous Aston Martin fans for the practical DB5 variant.

12 replicas of the Shooting-Brake were supplied by Radford/GB to customer orders. After the DB 5, the DB6 was converted by Radford/England. In its time, the DB5 Shooting Brake was the world's fastest "estate"; today it's a desirable and expensive collector's item. The DB 5 shown here took part in this year's British Classic Car Meeting in St. Moritz and is the winner of the concourse d'Elegance.

Remarkably unremarkable. A Shooting Brake at British classic car meeting is even an eye-catcher in St. Moritz. Despite the English camouflage colour (forest green) the DB 5 is perceptible even to untrained eyes.

The perfect understatement. In the mid 60s, the Shooting Brake broke through the battery of practical estates with a very simple construction. Luxury, style and extraordinary engine power were no longer only reserved for sports cars and GTs.

In comparison to numerous conversions of English and Italian GTs, the DB5 shines through with its balanced shapes. The rear, often the biggest challenge when constructing the body, blends harmoniously into the lines of the DB5.

David Brown wanted a representative car with sufficient room for polo equipment plus a barrier to transport his dogs safely. And of course the equipment should be made of durable material.

Instead of the obligatory 007 weapon control centre in the middle arm rest, the private Bond can look forward to electric window buttons, numerous instruments and lots of space. The interior of the Shooting Brake is unchanged compared with the GT.