CORGI TOYS 1965 JAMES BOND ASTON MARTIN D.B.5...

CORGI TOYS considered releasing JAMES BOND's

ASTON MARTIN D.B.5 in 1964, but decided against it.

Then they had a change of heart and rush-released the car to

meet the Christmas market of 1965.  This meant taking a few

shortcuts.  They didn't have time to create new tooling for a

D.B.5, so they used the existing mould for their D.B.4

model and adapted it for the purpose.

It's not widely known that the car in GOLDFINGER

was the prototype D.B.5 - in actuality a D.B.4 MARK V

VANTAGE, so Corgi weren't too far removed from reality

in utilising their D.B.4 moulds in order to get the toy into the

shops in time for Christmas.  Painted gold due to supposedly

looking like bare metal when silver, the colour neatly tied in

to the title of the film it appeared in - GOLDFINGER.  I

have an alternate theory, however, which is this.

(Complete speculation on my part.)

I sometimes fancifully wonder if a Corgi employee

was despatched to the cinema to determine the car's hue

(on account of only being supplied b&w photo reference),

saw the opening credits where excerpts from the movie were

projected onto MARGARET NOLAN's undulating, gold-

painted figure, and reported back that 007's car was gold.

Unlikely?  You never can tell, but I'll concede that it's

pure conjecture with no evidence to support it.

The car was blown to smithereens in SKYFALL,

so it'll be interesting to see if it ever appears again in a

Bond movie.  If not, we can seek solace in the Corgi car

from our childhoods - if we're lucky enough to own one of

course.  Me?  I've got two originals, plus the 1968 correct

silver birch colour in a slightly larger scale - not to mention

various other versions released down through the years.

I'll be showing a completely unique, recent Corgi

model of the car in an upcoming post.

Meanwhile, enjoy looking at the original.

   

Why not a WALTHER PPK?

Posted in: Cartoons