Aston Martin DB10 raises £2.4 million at charity auction

The Aston Martin DB10 is a rare beast. Just ten examples have ever been made, specially-developed for the most recent James Bond movie, Spectre.

Aston Martin originally had no plans to offer any for sale – but at a charity auction on February 18, bidding on the only example available - raising money for Médecins Sans Frontières - reached £2,434,500. Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer said he was 'delighted' to support the charity.

As well as raising a spectacular amount for MSF, the buyer now also owns an incredibly rare vehicle and a piece of movie history. Each car was hand-built for Spectre, based roughly on the Aston Martin V8 Vantage S, and retaining that car’s 4.7-litre, naturally-aspirated V8. The wheelbase is longer though (by 70mm) and the track wider, enhancing the car’s broad-hipped styling.

There’s a six-speed manual gearbox too, and Aston Martin estimates a 4.7-second 0-60mph time and a top speed of 190mph.

The exterior panels are formed from carbonfibre and the interior is handmade, with leather, carbonfibre and aluminium surfaces.

This is one area where some DB10s will differ, of course – the cars used in filming ranged from fully-built models, to roll-cage-equipped vehicles used for stunts, and even cars with driving pods on the roof for some interior stunt scenes.

The charity car was not one of those, thankfully. It’s one of two “show cars” created for the movie, used for display rather than stunts. This does mean Daniel Craig probably hasn’t driven it, but he might have posed with it at some point and he’s certainly signed it, at the Spectre premiere at the Royal Albert Hall. Passers-by on the street won’t know the difference.

It also came with a platinum award from the Aston Martin Works Assured Provenance scheme – essentially an in-house authentication programme that confirms the car’s provenance. The process even involves carrying out a digital scan of the car to be held in the company’s archives.

Médecins Sans Frontières - 'Doctors Without Borders' - is an international humanitarian aid organisation, providing medical care and support to those in areas of conflict, as well as natural disasters and epidemics.

The organisation has been around since 1971 - the year Sean Connery starred in Diamonds Are Forever.