5 Of The Most Expensive Aston Martins Ever Sold At Auction
Aston Martin began in London in 1913 as Bamford & Martin, taking its original name from the surnames of founders Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin. Bamford & Martin went broke in 1924, and the company shifted its attention to making sports cars, rebranding as Aston Martin soon after. The Aston part of the new name was borrowed from Aston Hill, where Lionel Martin raced.
Aston Martin was famously the auto brand of choice for fictional MI6 secret agent James Bond. Bond's favorite Aston Martin was the DB5, which appeared in nine films, including 2021's No Time To Die. That picture featured three other Aston Martins alongside the DB5: a V8 Vantage Volante, a DBS Superleggera, and a Valhalla, which features a 998-horsepower powertrain and can hit a top speed of 217 mph.
Although production version Aston Martins don't have 007-inspired gadgetry like ejector seats, water cannons, or smokescreens, their refinement and performance make them some of the most valuable and coveted cars on earth. Some Aston-Martins have commanded jaw-dropping prices at auction, like the five below.
[Featured image by Rex Gray via Wikimedia Commons|Cropped and scaled|CC- By 2.0]
1955 DB3S: $5.5 million
In 1952, Aston Martin sent the all-new DB3 to the racetrack, and lightened it by 165 pounds for the updated DB3S the following year. Aston Martin produced 11 racing-spec DB3S, and they proved to be so formidable in competition that in 1955, 20 production models were made. Those cars had a new 3.0-liter inline six with three Weber carburetors and produced 210 horsepower. That was sufficient to get the car from 0-60 in under seven seconds and to a top speed of over 140 miles per hour.
One of the 20 customer-spec DB3s examples sold in 2009 for close to $2 million, and another sold for almost twice that three years later. At their 2014 auction in Pebble Beach, California, Gooding &Company sold the 1955 DB3s with chassis number 111 for $5.5 million. That particular car had a brief racing history in the late '50s and early '60s and was owned for several decades by the Forshaw family, which also operated Aston Service in Dorset, England.
{Featured image by Brian Snelson via Wikimedia Commons|Cropped and scaled|CC-By 2.0]
1965 DB5: $6.385 million
All of the Aston Martins on this list are special, and some have impressive racing pedigrees, but none of them were ever driven on film by one of the many actors who played James Bond. In 2019, though, a DB5 that was piloted by Sean Connery in 1964's "Goldfinger" was auctioned off by Sotheby's for $6.385 million. It was one of four DB5s built specially for the film and loaned to Eon Productions, and had superspy-friendly features like a revolving license plate, .30-caliber Browning machine guns in the fenders, and oil slick and smoke screen dispensers for a safe getaway.
The film helped make the DB5 popular with buyers who weren't MI6 agents, and Eon Productions ordered two more DB5s to use on promotional junkets for the 1965 release of "Thunderball." Those cars had higher-quality versions of the special gadgets that had originally been installed for "Goldfinger" just for filming. British collector Lord Bamford bought the two promotional DB5s in 1969, then sold one to B.H. Atchley, who displayed it at his Pigeon Forge, Tennessee car museum for more than three decades.
Connery relayed his affection for the car to Sotheby's via his son, Stephane, "These DB5s are amazing," the actor said. "I remember the Furka Pass tire shredding, as well as the promotional events with these cars—they have become increasingly iconic since Goldfinger and Thunderball. In fact, I bought a very fine DB5 myself relatively recently."
1962 DB4 GT Zagato: $14.3 million
Taking the third spot on the podium for most expensive Aston Martin models ever is the 1962 DB4 GT Zagato that sold via Sotheby's for $14.3 million in 2015. At the time, that was a record for British-made cars sold at auction, but that mark would be eclipsed by another Aston Martin in just two years.
That $14 million DB4 Zagato was one of just 19 produced after the car debuted at the 1960 London Motor Show. The body was built by the Italian coach builder Zagato, and weighed 50 kilograms (110 pounds) less than that of the standard DB4.
The Zagato's six-cylinder engine displaced 3.67 liters and produced 314 horsepower, and the car was driven to three race wins by Doug Whiteford the year it was built. The original owner was Laurie O'Neill, who helped bring Peterbuilt trucks to his native Australia. The car had two more Australian owners over the next 20 years before it was brought back to its homeland to be restored.
1963 DP215 GT Competition Prototype: $21.455 million
The second-highest price an Aston Martin commanded at auction was the $21.455 million paid for a 1963 DP215 GT that saw action at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The same year that car was built as a prototype, Lucien Bianchi and Phil Hill teamed up to drive it at the legendary endurance race, but the DP215 ran just 29 laps before the gearbox failed.
Despite that fatal issue, it was the first car ever to go faster than 300 kph in the race, hitting a top speed of 319.6 kph (just shy of 199 mph) on the famous Mulsanne Straight. The DP215 was the last racing car ever built at the Aston Martin factory, and also marked the swan song with Aston Martin for motorsports legend David Brown, who would later go on to work with Formula 1 champions Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. The prototype 1963 DP215 was auctioned off by Sotheby's in 2018.
1956 DBR1: $22.55 million
The Aston Martin that fetched the highest price ever at auction was a 1956 DBR1 that sold for $22.55 million in 2017. This particular example was more than just a gorgeous racing green roadster with dramatic, curved lines. It was also an endurance racing champion, winning the 1959 1,000-kilometer race at Germany's Nurbringring for Sir Stirling Moss and taking that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans with Roy Salvadori and Carrol Shelby at the wheel. Shelby's racing career was derailed the next year by health issues, but he would go on to establish himself as a legendary designer of performance cars.
Maurice Trintigant and Paul Frere finished second to Salvadori and Shelby in another of the four DBR1s built by Aston Martin. The car driven to victory by Salvadori and Shelby wasn't just the most expensive Aston Martin ever, it also fetched a higher price at auction than any other British car in history.