Trust Us, It's Fully Loaded

Bond's DB5 goes on the block

December 1, 2005—Next time you feel the urge to ram that annoying guy in the left lane, just be sure he's not driving a beautiful old Aston Martin—he may well have machine-gun-equipped headlights. In a development sure to thrill 007 wannabes everywhere, James Bond's original spy-swatting DB5 (above) will be available to the highest bidder at next month's Vintage Motor Cars auction in Phoenix. Used as a promotional tool for 1964's Goldfinger and 1965's Thunderball (and one of only four replicas ever made), the coupe has resided in a soon-to-close Tennessee museum since 1970. It's in pristine condition and, as you'd expect from a car befitting Bond, can handle both hairpin turns and SPECTRE henchmen, thanks to working examples of Q's signature gizmos. Pressurized oil-slick jets at the rear? Check. Ability to dispense tire-gouging spikes and three-pronged caltrops? But of course. All that plus radar scanner, revolving license plates, "bulletproof" screen, and those machine-gun-equipped headlights, which actually fire pulsing bursts of flaming propane rather than real bullets. Ready to place a bid? You'd better be the Man with the Golden Checkbook: The car is expected to go for between $1.5 and $2.5 million.
Save a few bucks by booking a room at Scottsdale's newly refurbished, and very cool, Hotel Valley Ho. Vintage Motor Cars Show, Arizona Biltmore Resort and Spa, 2400 East Missouri Ave., Phoenix, (800) 950-0086, www.arizonabiltmore.com; visit www.rmauctions.com for more info on the DB5.