The Bond Movie ‘Thunderball‘ is released seeing the return of the Aston Martin DB5, enhanced from ‘Goldfinger‘ with added rear facing water canon and boot stowed jetpack. The cars used in the film were actually the same as those used in ‘Goldfinger‘.

In the film, James Bond attends the funeral of Colonel Jacques Bouvar, a SPECTRE operative (Number 6). Bouvar is alive and disguised as his own widow, but Bond identifies him. Following him to a château, Bond fights and kills him, escaping using a jetpack and his Aston Martin DB5.

Thanks to special-effects man John Stears, Thunderball‘s pre-title teaser, the Aston Martin DB5 (introduced in Goldfinger), reappears armed with rear-firing water cannon, seeming noticeably weathered – just dust and dirt, raised moments earlier by Bond’s landing with the Bell Rocket Belt (developed by Bell Aircraft Corporation).

The Aston Martin DB5, is perhaps the most successful car product placement in film ever. The combination of great Italian design, smart British engineering and clever and imaginative gadgets from special effects expert John Stears set the tone for Bond films and the publicity almost certainly saved Aston Martin from one of its perennial financial crises.

DB5 values at auction are currently entering the stratospheric, but its incredible to see the change in their values in the last 20 years. Classiccarauctionresults.co.uk show the shift in prices and how far prices could continue to rise.