Jerry Lee's Aston Martin DB5 fetches $4.6 million

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Updated: B-101 Philadelphia owner Jerry Lee’s auction for his James Bond 1964 Aston Martin DB5 is over, pulling only a few bids. The car sold at 4:40 PM ET in London with RM Auctions/Sotheby’s for $4,608,500 (2,912,000 pounds). Note: The final figures include 12% buyer’s premium. The car actually sold for $4,099,562 (2.6 million pounds). The DB5 was dubbed by auto auctioneers RM Auctions as the “world’s most famous car.”


Lee convinced the Aston Martin Lagonda factory to sell it for to him $12,000 in 1969, becoming its first and only ex-factory owner. 

The successful bidder, Harry Yeaggy, an American businessman, is only the second ex-factory owner of the Mr. Bond’s ride.  “This is a car that I’ve always wanted, after all it is the most famous car in the world,” said Yeaggy about the DB5. “My plan is to display it in my private car museum in Ohio just as it is.”

Lee plans to use the proceeds from the sale to further the charitable work of The Jerry Lee Foundation, a multi-national initiative dedicated to solving social problems associated with poverty, with an emphasis on crime prevention. Of particular benefit will be the Jerry Lee Center of Criminology at the University of Pennsylvania and the Jerry Lee Centre of Experimental Criminology at the University of Cambridge. (http://jerryleefoundation.com/)

“The James Bond car has brought me much enjoyment for some 40 years,” said Lee. “Even as I sell it and use the proceeds to fund the Jerry Lee Foundation, the car will continue to give me great pleasure as it furthers the mission of the Foundation to do good around the world.”

In addition to acquiring the ‘most famous car in the world’, the winning bidder receives commemorative Dormeiul ‘Vanquish II’ fabric woven with solid gold thread from famous British tailoring house Gieves & Hawkes, who dressed Sean Connery with bespoke tailoring for all six of his appearances as James Bond. This certified fabric will be made into a handmade bespoke suit by the craftsmen at Gieves & Hawkes of No. 1 Savile Row, London for an estimated value of £30,000.

Another exciting and valuable addition for the 007 DB5’s new owner is an exclusive seven-night stay for 10 guests valued at £40,000 at the relaunched GoldenEye Resort in Jamaica – Ian Fleming’s original Caribbean Estate. The luxury getaway will enable the guests to revel in the history and the inspirational surroundings where all 14 James Bond novels were written, and sit at Fleming’s original desk where the Goldfinger car and Q gadgets were conceived.