James Bond 1964 Aston Martin DB5 Sells for $4.6 Million

LONDON — The sun never sets on global fascination with the James Bond character, so it's no surprise that someone snapped up a 1964 Bond Aston Martin DB5 at RM Auctions' Automobiles of London auction on Wednesday. It fetched the equivalent of $4,634,229, the auction company said, and according to British media the winning bidder was Ohio businessman Harry Yeaggy.

Its previous owner, who had it since its days in the Bond films, was also an American — Philadelphia broadcasting executive Jerry Lee, who reportedly had displayed it in his home. A promotional video for the car details its gadgetry — all still there, including a rear bulletproof shield, an oil slick sprayer, wing machine guns, a nail spreader, front and rear rams, and the all-important passenger ejector seat.

The DB5 has a 4.0-liter Vantage inline six-cylinder engine that makes 282 horsepower, mated to a ZF five-speed manual transmission. It has triple SU carburetors, independent front and live-axle rear suspension, rack-and-pinion steering and four-wheel Girling disc brakes. There was another DB5 used along with this one in Goldfinger and Thunderball, but it has since disappeared and is believed to have been destroyed, said RM Auctions.

Inside Line says: As high as this car's sale price was, the estimates had been even higher. — Laura Sky Brown, Correspondent