VIN: the Goldfinger / Thunderball James Bond 007 Aston Martin DB5 Prototype chassis DP/2161/1
History of chassis DP/2161/1
As its DP chassis moniker would suggest, DP/2161/1 began life as an Aston Martin Design Prototype. It initially emerged from the Newport Pagnell factory as a Fiesta Red DB4 Series 5 with black upholstery that was destined for use as the DB5 development mule. The car was registered BMT 216A on May 1st 1963.
Once its R&D role had been completed, DP/2161/1 remained in the ownership of Aston Martin. It was displayed at the London Motor Show in October 1963 and also appeared in DB5 publicity material.
Around this time, movie producers Harry Saltzman and Albert ‘Cubby’ Broccoli approached Aston Martin about the loan of two cars for the upcoming James Bond movie Goldfinger starring Sean Connery as secret agent 007.
Having agreed to the proposal, Aston Martin supplied Eon Productions (Danjaq SA) with a brand new Silver Birch DB5 (chassis DB5/1486/R) and chassis DP/2161/1.
DB5/1486/R was generally used for close up, static and low speed sequences.
Meanwhile, DP/2161/1 was repainted a matching shade of Silver Birch and fitted with a host of special Q-branch equipment. The by now well used albeit cosmetically refreshed machine would serve mostly as the high speed, stunt and special effects car although it appeared in the odd static scene as well.
The two cars were easily identifiable from one another on account of DP/2161/1’s non-standard side-mounted indicator lenses located ahead of the front fender engine cooling vent.
The list of Q-branch equipment added to DP/2161/1 by John Stears’ special effects team at Pinewood Studios was extensive. It included:
a Browning machine gun concealed behind each front indicator
a retractable bullet-proof screen behind the rear window
hydraulic tyre slashing extendable wheel spinners
hydraulic bumper over-riders that projected for use as battering rams
an oil spray device housed in the left-hand side rear light cluster
a caltrops nail ejector housed in the right-hand side rear light cluster
smoke-emitting exhaust pipes
a radar scanner in the exterior mirror
revolving British, French and Swiss licence plates
a concealed button underneath the gear lever which (theoretically) would jettison the roof panel before firing a Martin-Baker ejector seat (not actually fitted)
an illuminated radar tracking display screen
a telephone in the driver’s armrest
a centre console-mounted weapons switchboard
an armaments draw under the driver's seat
DP/2151/1 made its first appearance in Goldfinger when Bond was introduced to his new steed at Q-branch headquarters where Q (Desmond Llewelyn) demonstrated the car’s array of special equipment.
A DB5 (this time DB5/1486/R) is next seen on Bond’s visit to Goldfinger’s country club in Kent where the two men play a round of golf together. The same car is then depicted at Southend Airport where Bond is awaiting a transport flight to Switzerland in pursuit of Goldfinger who had departed with his gold-laden Rolls-Royce a short time earlier.
DP/2151/1 and DB5/1486/R were both then used for the various scenes where Tilly Masterson (Tania Mallet) attempted to assassinate Goldfinger during a brief stop in the Swiss Furka Pass. Observing Goldfinger from a distance, Bond was nearly struck by Masterson’s stray bullet. 007 then waited in a side road for Masterson to come passed and set off in pursuit of her Mustang which he overtook and proceeded to block. When Masterson did subsequently attempt an overtake, Bond covertly deployed his tyre slashing wheel spinners which resulted in the Mustang leaving the road. Bond then gave the stricken Masterson a lift to the nearest garage.
Having used DP/2151/1 to check out the Auric Enterprises refinery from an inconspicuous position, Bond returned later that night with a plan to break in. Here he encountered Masterson trying to make another assassination attempt on Goldfinger, during which an alarm was tripped. DB5/1486/R was used for most of the ensuing woodland chase scene where much of the DB5’s special equipment was called upon. Chassis DP/2151/1 then took over for the sequence at Goldfinger’s refinery where another chase resulted in the DB5 being crashed into a (fake) concrete wall.
Once filming was completed (on July 11th 1964 in Andermatt, Switzerland), the two DB5s returned to Aston Martin where they were freshened up. At this stage, DP/2161/1’s unique side-mounted indicators were deleted.
In February 1965, the Q-branch DB5s were taken to France for the Goldfinger sequel: Thunderball. However, by this time DB5/1586/R had also been kitted out with all the Q-branch extras and with DP/2151/1 having lost its distinctive side-mounted indicators, telling the two cars apart became impossible.
The film’s early scenes saw Bond use his Aston Martin to escape from the Chateau d’Anet after he killed a terrorist operative connected with the murders of two MI6 agents. Having first used a jet-pack to escape the grounds of the Chateau, Bond landed by his waiting DB5, raised the bullet proof shield to protect himself from the fast approaching gunmen and then drenched them with newly installed water cannons.
Upon his return to England, Bond travelled to the Shrublands sanatorium in his DB5 where he got wind of a plot to steal an RAF Avro Vulcan bomber loaded with two atomic bombs. While driving the DB5 on the motorway back to London he was attacked by a gunman in a black Ford Fairline. The Fairline driver was then mysteriously killed by a masked motorcyclist who fired a rocket-propelled grenade and promptly disappeared.
Having been used extensively for promotional purposes, Aston Martin finally decided to sell both their movie star DB5s in 1968.
Chassis DP/2161/R was stripped of its Q-branch equipment, re-registered 6633 PP and sold in August ‘68 to Gavin Keyzar, a company director from Chislehurst, Kent. By this time the car was showing around 50,000 miles on the odometer.
Following an unsuccessful attempt to sell DP/2161/1 in October 1969, Keyzar decided to buy back all the necessary Q-branch equipment which was then re-instated locally.
In 1971 the car was sold to Richard Loose of Utah who also owned the Rolls-Royce Phantom III from Goldfinger.
1980 saw DP/2161/1 appear alongside Roger Moore in the hit movie The Cannonball Run for which several of the car’s special features were utilised.
In 1986, Sotheby’s sold DP/2161/1 at an auction in New York for $275,000. The buyer was real estate developer, Anthony Pugliese of Boca Raton, Florida.
Eleven years later, DP/2161/1 was stolen from an airside hangar at Boca Raton Airport. The theft took place sometime between 4pm on Wednesday June 18th and 7am on Thursday 19th. Insurers Grundy and Chubb paid out a combined $3.2m. DP/2161/1 has never been seen since.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: MGM Studios - https://www.mgm.com
