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Anyone heard anything more on the "original" (or should I say, one of the original) Aston Martin DB5's that was stolen here in the US.
It was actually stolen from an airplane hangar about ten minutes from where I live (no I didn't steal it). One of the most beautiful sports cars ever made, I was wondering if maybe it had been located since the theft.
I never heard of the crime. The news coverage in North Carolina really sucks. What happened? When was it stolen?
From what I understand one of the original DB5's were stolen from an airplane hangar where it was being stored here at the Boca Raton airport. This was several years ago (1996 maybe)and I have heard nothing since.
Not an easy car to get rid of.
I don't know if the crime was ever solved but here's a link of the 1997 article.
http://www.klast.net/bond/db5.html
Last edited by Alex (30th Dec 2002 12:51)
Hmm, the DB5 from Goldfinger is in a museum near my house.
Maybe that's the one you mean.
Quoting shakhtyor:
Hmm, the DB5 from Goldfinger is in a museum near my house.
Maybe that's the one you mean.
There was more then one used in Goldfinger. (As I'm sure you are aware of) I don't see how someone could steal it from a private collector then sell it to a museum without the crime being noticed.
Last edited by Alex (30th Dec 2002 23:56)
From what I heard, most of the cars from the two films were relieved of their gadgets and sold on again as second hand DB5's... But then again, I could be wrong (probably I'm wrong 
)
Last edited by Carver (31st Dec 2002 00:05)
No, this was an actual car used in the movie Goldfinger, there were several. For instance, the scene with the tire slicers coming out of the rear axles was done using a fiberglass quarter panel and rear tires set up on a small set. I don't believe there was a whole car. remember these effects (the car) had to be ready in about 6 weeks (I believe). I don't know if it had the gadgets but it was considered to be a "genuine" DB5 from the movie. I don't know what happened to it but I can't believe someone would sell it back to a museum. More likely they have it hidden in their garage or have sold it to someone in another country that has some kind of immunity to prosecution.
After viewing the link that Alex was kind enough to include in his reply it sounds as though this DB5 had most all the gadgets and could be considered the original. Five years and still no sign of it.
I can't believe somebody stole that beautiful piece of art. I hope they throw im into jail for a long long time.
There are four "original" Goldfinger DB5 cars:
A primary filming car (the stolen one), which was returned to Aston Martin (who maintained ownership of the car through film production and publicity). This is the car that Aston Martin converted to a standard car circa 1968/'69 and sold to privat individual. I remember it was owned by a Utah jeweler for years.
Another film car was used, I believe for location work mainly.
Two additional cars were built, including gadgets, and were used for the Goldfinger promotional tour.
I myself was wondering if the stolen car had been recovered, but I think we would have heard somewhere.
Last edited by justvisiting (17th Jan 2003 18:46)
I had dinner with Dave Worrall (*the* Bond Aston expert) not too long after the insurance settlement; Dave was called-in to help determine the car's value.
He noted something I had spotted when the car was shown in L.A. in '94. The driver's side front fender had a sort of ripple in it. Dave said it happened when the car was driven through the brick effects wall in "Goldfinger." Dave regarded this car, which was the original prototype DB5 loaned by Aston to EON, as the TRUE Bond Aston and, as such, it's theft and disappearance was a real loss to film historians and 007 fans.
The general consensus is that the car had never earned from "personal appearances" what the owner had hoped, so a little arrangement was made to collect on the insurance. The car was most likely destroyed to cover-up any chance of the truth being found-out.
BTW, the owner got $3.5 Million. He had hired an agent to handle booking the car for shows, etc. who, in turn, sued the owner for what he felt was his rightful share as he was now out of a job! It got fairly ugly ...
Addendum:
I've been out of work for awhile now and, for one reason or another, my hobby often comes up in interviews. I'm always a bit chagrined to admit I'm a hopeless Bond fanatic but in one interview the hiring manager confessed that she had no problem with it what-so-ever as her father had owned one of the three Astons prepped for Goldfinger!
Indeed, when I got home, I checked Dave Worrall's book and sure enough, there was a whole section on her family including a photo of her as a child with the car!
that is crazy to stel a james bond car. i also have to wonder how the guy got down the local highway with missles sticking out the front.
Sorry to bring back this topic, but is there any new news on where it could be, or if it’s been found?
Last edited by funkeyj65 (23rd Nov 2006 10:05)
The theft of the DB5 original was deffinetly a planned and paid for opperation...
you think it was some idiots off the street who chanced there luck and managed it...
No way ...
I bet my life on it ... as soon as it was out of the hanger where is was in storage.... it was straight into the back of a truck and then tucked away and hidden...
There is no way its destroyed its alaive and well i honestly bet my life on it. and the person who has it now will never be able to sell it... or display it in public
i BET SOMEone has it in there collection or garage ... in an underground place soemwere or in there mansion... etc...
Its either in the US or Britain ....
Last edited by scaramangasgoldengun (10th Apr 2008 13:45)
The theft of the DB5 original was deffinetly a planned and paid for opperation...
you think it was some idiots off the street who chanced there luck and managed it...
No way ...
I bet my life on it ... as soon as it was out of the hanger where is was in storage.... it was straight into the back of a truck and then tucked away and hidden...
There is no way its destroyed its alaive and well i honestly bet my life on it. and the person who has it now will never be able to sell it... or display it in public
i BET SOMEone has it in there collection or garage ... in an underground place soemwere or in there mansion... etc...
Its either in the US or Britain ....
The car won't be in one piece. It's probably been sold on for spares. Original DB5 spares are worth a huge fortune now. The whole car is too high profile for anyone to keep it in the original condition whoever they are and whatever their bank balance, it needs maintenance and a huge amount of space, and shipping would be next to impossible in this age without tens of people coming into contact with it daily. The theft too was not so hi-tech, just an opportunity that presented itself while the car was in a far from secure location. It would have been stripped and shipped within a couple of hours. It could very well have been an insurance job too, which is what most people think, in which case everything would have been destroyed. The owner was often quoted as saying the car cost too much to maintain. Crying shame, but it is gone forever
Last edited by Asp9mm (10th Apr 2008 14:24)
..........................well I am not the only one who thinks its in a privite collection ....
and the privite collection its in is never in public contact ... and the car has not been maint ained.. its purely a static display
I APRECIATE YOUR OPINION AND YES ! you may be right along with many others...
but until a spare part has been traced as being from the car ... i BELEIVE its still out there...
it was to well planned. just for spare parts ... if that was the case they could have had a much easier job stealing a normal DB5 from a privite collector. It was stolen for the BOND ELEMENT trust me...
it is out there... some place...
I bet it re surfaces in about 10+ years ... at some point
the person who has it cannot win no matter what he or she does... if they try and sell it they go to jail if the put it on public display they get jailed...
also the cars chasi number could have been changed along with engine parts and the person could have had it classed as a replica... so its now a replica but actually the original which would divert much unwanted attention ...
there is so many possibilities of whats happened .to the best film prop ever.
but its deffenetly still in one peice...
I do understand what you mean about no high profile person havening it etc...
I am not trying to paint the picture its in a Bond style villian museum etc ...
i mean it may be in an old wooden shed for all we know with a dust sheet over it...
But I think it will be found one day ....
speaking hypothetically - and personally if it was me and I wouldnt blame the person who found it for this either... I would steal it again...
no point in giving it back to the producers.. or right-full owner because you would be a suspect for finding it straight away... and the rightfull owner was trying to sell replica parts claiming them to be the original parts a few weeks ago, so I would keep it for that level of cheek LOL
but all in all it has lived to die another day
Last edited by scaramangasgoldengun (10th Apr 2008 14:48)
but until a spare part has been traced as being from the car ... i BELEIVE its still out there...
it was to well planned. just for spare parts ... if that was the case they could have had a much easier job stealing a normal DB5 from a privite collector. It was stolen for the BOND ELEMENT trust me...
That's just the point, spare parts are generic, they can't be traced to any individual vehicle.
The theft required no planning, the car was stored in an unguarded low security building. The insurance company is also offering a reward and the investigation into the claim is still ongoing. The smart money lies in an insurance scam, although at one point they thought it might have been taken out by employees and been damaged, and hence forth trashed and hidden to cover the incident.
It's a nice thought to think that it is out there somewhere, being maintained by a loving if not decidedly dodgy hand, but the odds are very small, and we probably will never know the final fate of BMT 216A 
..........................
I'm with ASP9mm on this one. I used to work cases just like the missing DB5. It's most likely in pieces and has been for some while. If it had been stolen on the West Coast, it there is a slim possibility it was shipped out to China in a container.
But the DB5 has too high a profile, moving it around next to impossible. I would like to believe it's in one piece in remote Bavarian castle, on display in a well-lite, high polished dungeon - rubbed down every day by "Willie" the butler for a one-eyed, bald headed villian .... but I think in reality it's "everywhere and nowhere".
your right ...We will probibly never know ...
I find the employees trashing it rather amusing .. I could just picture it ... 3 of them take it for a spin crash it and one says we need to get rid of this now and the other 2 run away and leave it in the hands of one guy ... LOL then he looks over his shoulder and Michael G. Wilson is gaining fast with a solid lethal looking sharp bat ... LOL while the employee is stick in a ditch in the car
Il keep an open mind ... and look on the bright side that it will one day turn up .. I do understand what you mean about the parts etc I am a classic car and aston martin nut.... I know a great deal about isurance scams with cars etc... not that I am invloved with anything like that .. I like reading up on things like that .... i talk to some people .. but ill say no more about that ...
I supose the only thing that would confirm the breaking down of it would be the original gadgets surfacing....
It really is a shame about this car ... even although there is like 15 replicas going around the world probibly more.. it would be nice to see the original again..
I know the smokey mountain car museum had the other original car .. the road car not the gadget car.. it was later fitted with the same gadgets and is now the rarest car minuis the stolen BMT 216A .... it was sold to someone in britain.. a while ago .. and I think its now in the UK...
here it is
I supose I will have to be happy with my 2 autoart astons for now.. the one with gadgets and with out displayed very well to represent the 2 used on film in Goldfinger..
Last edited by scaramangasgoldengun (10th Apr 2008 15:39)
I would like to believe it's in one piece in remote Bavarian castle, on display in a well-lite, high polished dungeon - rubbed down every day by "Willie" the butler for a one-eyed, bald headed villian .... but I think in reality it's "everywhere and nowhere".
Oh, did I mention, that I am living in Bavaria?
Damned, Willie has again overseen a hair of mine in the soup bowl, god, I am scared that I am getting bald 
Last edited by Bondtoys (10th Apr 2008 16:05)
Maybe this would make a good plot for the next movie,Bond must find the secret spy car stolen from Q Branch.....
Lets face it if you stole thethe most famous car in the world you would not waste time stripping it down and selling bits,as some one would notice and you would be in jail. It must be in a private collection or (lets hope not) at the bottom of the ocean. but my bet is in a collection even if this was partly oranged by the old owner, some very rich collectors would pay top dollar for this car and then he also gets the insurance pay out.
He noted something I had spotted when the car was shown in L.A. in '94. The driver's side front fender had a sort of ripple in it. Dave said it happened when the car was driven through the brick effects wall in "Goldfinger." Dave regarded this car, which was the original prototype DB5 loaned by Aston to EON, as the TRUE Bond Aston and, as such, it's theft and disappearance was a real loss to film historians and 007 fans.
Yeah, it was the prototype DB5, originally maroon in colour and featured in many DB5 roadtests (and had also appeared in The Saint- so Roger got it first! 
) and easy to spot as it was the only DB5 to feature side repeaters on the wings- if you look in the film Bond's car is constantly losing and gaining these side indicators. As I remember it had the gadgets removed and was sold on, but then the person who got hold of it tried to recreate the film car and added replica gadgets back onto it- they looked a bit ropey as I recall.
The general consensus is that the car had never earned from "personal appearances" what the owner had hoped, so a little arrangement was made to collect on the insurance. The car was most likely destroyed to cover-up any chance of the truth being found-out.
Seems believable- a shame as it was an historic car even without the Bond connection.
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