Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger celebrates 60 years of Bond partnership
Aston Martin and James Bond have been partners for 60 years. The DB12 Goldfinger celebrates the milestone
Aston Martin is celebrating six decades of its association with James Bond with this special DB12 Goldfinger Edition. It’s named after the 1964 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer classic starring Roger Moore and the gadget-laden Silver Birch Aston Martin DB5. Goldfinger was an instant cult classic that sparked a film and motor industry partnership that endures to this day.
The Goldfinger Edition project was undertaken by Aston Martin’s Q bespoke division (itself an incredibly on-the-nose nod to the Bond franchise) to glaze the DB12 in a number of special touches to mark the anniversary, for a 60-car limited production run.
To start with, the DB12 Goldfinger is presented in that same colour, Silver Birch, and wears 21-inch multi-spoke wheels in their own shade of silver with a diamond treatment. There’s plenty of Q badging and gold for the side strakes, with a silver and black enamel Aston Martin logo. No deployable bulletproof shield, smokescreens or rocket launchers, though. Sorry.
The leather sports seats have a fluted finish per the DB5. A Prince of Wales check perforation pattern that’s a nod to Bond’s suit features on the seats, along with the door inserts and headliner. It’s also etched on the treadplate, with the Goldfinger 60th anniversary logo.
It’s the metalwork around the cabin that really stands out, however, with many of the DB12’s physical controls on the centre console presented in 18k gold plating. Most prominent are the drive mode rotary dial and notched gear selector, with roller controls all around. Even the carbon trim in the carbon has gold metal fibres woven in.
Finally, one for the real Bond boffins, the ‘eight of hearts’ embroidered on the driver’s side sun visor, referencing the playing card seen in last draw in Goldfinger’s Miami pool scene.
As a sweetener for those 60 buyers of the Aston Martin DB12 Goldfinger Edition, each will receive an array of gists, including a custom car cover, a custom box for the key, a Silver Birch speedform model and especially curious, a section of 35mm film containing a moment from the iconic Furka Pass Goldfinger scene.
All this, along with a golden limited edition print of the Aston Martin Magazine, will be presented to owners in a Globe-Trotter attaché case, presented in Silver Birch on the outside with a check interior, to match the car.
Last of all? It wouldn’t be Bond without a bottle of Bollinger, 2007 vintage, in another Globe-Trotter air cabin case with four glasses thrown (figuratively) in. Will that be all, 007?
Of course, the car itself is something to remark upon. The DB12 represents one of the finest returns to form of any manufacturer we’ve seen in recent years, that confidently presents a new face of Aston Martin with the muscle to back it up – 671bhp of it to be precise, courtesy of a 4-litre twin-turbo V8. Happily, the DB12’s deft dynamics are there to harness the fury, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to, as Q always asks, bring it back in one piece.
