Aston Martin recently released photos of a 1965 DB5 it had restored after years of disuse. The owner of this particular car had bought it as a teenager in 1972 and used it as his daily driver for a few years, and after he finally parked it for good on his driveway in 1977, it simply sat there – life and a job overseas got in the way.
The car was in absolutely awful shape after having sat outside for nearly 50 years, with neighbourhood kids playing in it and on it, and John Williams, the owner, just hadn’t been able to part with it even if it ended up looking like it could hardly turn a wheel ever again. But luckily, after years of working and saving funds, he was able to take his Aston back to the factory to be restored back to showroom shine, as it turns out to have been a particularly rare specification to begin with. As he says, there had been numerous offers from people eager to buy the rotting car, but he persisted and kept it.
It goes without saying that most Aston Martin DB5s are Silver Birch without even knowing it. To clarify, the James Bond 007 cinematic universe has such a strong connection to Aston Martin DB5s that many of them end up repainted silver to match the Goldfinger car. This car, however, was silver from factory, and in addition it was a right-hand-drive Vantage with triple Webers and 315 horsepower, the more powerful engine choice.
Restored, it’s a car worth a million pounds, even if the three-year factory restoration at Aston’s Newport Pagnell workshop cannot have come cheap, either. Looking at the “before” photos, it’s no wonder it took over 2,500 hours to get it back to the condition in which it once left the factory gates.
The owner is understandably happy with the result, after 50 years of dreaming about driving his car again. Looking at the photos and comparing its condition before and after, I keep thinking which car would make a great story in the same fashion. I’ve driven my old Volkswagen Polo to Wolfsburg, where it was built in 1986, but at the time it didn’t need a full factory resto, not that I could have afforded it then or today. In Japan, Mazda offers a full, two-month factory refurbishment for the NA Miata, which reportedly costs $60,000, far more than a new ND generation car. Mercedes-Benz offers a lot of the parts needed to restore most of its classic catalogue, as well as performing authentic factory restoration at its Classic Center in Fellbach, Germany.
I’ve had a cheap 1992 Peugeot 405 Mi16 for a decade, and most of that time it’s sat in a barn, waiting for me to have the time, funds, and skills to get it right. I’d love to trailer it to the factory museum in France and let them find parts for it for a change.
It takes a strong emotional connection to steadfastly hold onto a car, hoping the time would come to get it back in the condition it deserves, especially if you’re not capable of restoring it yourself.
Which car, still existing or already far gone, would you have the original manufacturer restore?
I have not read the comments yet but there’s also a Mercedes Benz Classic Center in Long Beach, CA right near the airport. The MB clubs occasionally have a cars and coffee there. We have bought parts there. They have a full restoration shop and some pristine vehicles on display. If you’re working on a car, you can use theirs as a reference.
My parents would always point out a 41 Buick when one turned up on TV. It’s what my dad drove when they got married in 1953. It’d be nice to get one restored, though dad’s not around anymore.
I don’t know more specifically what model they’re talking about.
Not really, but I would have liked to send my ’90 Legacy to Prodrive for restoration+.
If I had jackass money, I’d have a low roof Legacy wagon made into a 2-door with 22B flares.
Whenever I read about a factory restoration, I think about Nicko McBrain’s factory resto-mod ’84 XJ6 which is awesome. I’ll take one of these.
https://media.jaguar.com/news/2018/03/jaguar-creates-unique-greatest-hits-xj-iron-maiden-drummer-nicko-mcbrain
Most factories are not equipped nor have staff that could restore a car.
The short answer is nothing.
I get the need and appeal for the factory or heritage service especially for the rare and expensive stuff. But I have to think if you are really spending all that money there is probably some guys using better then factory stuff or making factory stuff better then factory. I would rather have OEM+ then OEM in any case. The Mercedes harritage stuff is impressive. Not sure I’m ready to judge the AM stuff. Maybe the big money guys using cars as investments its extra provenance . If it’s a factory or manufacture supported restoration crew that really believe in their work and aren’t tied to corporate image then it’s probably fine. It seems they are more to art restoration then where most of the car restoration has been.
Would totally love to send the 1972 Lotus Europa Twincam I have sitting in my garage, mostly disassembled for the past 22 years, back to Hethel for a full factory-fresh rebuild. Then, when I got it back, drive it every possible opportunity I had.
The problem is that they would likely rebuild it just as shittily as they slapped it together in the first place. The LAST place I would want to send my Spitfire for a rebuild is the factory! British cars of that era are great once you took them apart and put them back together properly.
That’d be part of the charm – I’d get to do that all over again. Though, depending on what year your Spitfire is, the folks at British Leyland might have done a worse off job on your car than the team at Lotus with my Europa. I purchased it as a complete project back in 2000 and could tell it’d never been apart before. Mainly needs chassis rust repair before tackling the oily bits.
’69-’80 depending on what bits you are looking at, but it’s registered as a ’74. Very little original about it at this point, and much better for it, though it is 100% Triumph. I’ve owned it since 1996, it’s never been off the road other than over the Maine winters for obvious reason. Did need a motor rebuild circa the turn of the century due to some previous owner stupidity (when you bolt an early motor to a late O/D transmission, use the correct flywheel bolts or very bad things happen eventually), but that only took a month or so.
I’m old enough to remember these cars new – they were appallingly poorly put together.
Europas are one of those seriously cool cars that I am about 20% too large to actually be able to fit in and drive. Sigh. Buddy of mine has a nice one in full black and gold JPS livery.
Only because I have had it for a very long time and it needs a restoration, my ’67 VW squareback. It took me decades to realize that the carbs on it when I bought it in ’78 with popping heads had the wrong carbs. Now that I finally have the right carbs, it is down for body work that I would love to have properly restored.
My M Coupe is now 26 years old (23 years in my ownership). At 75K it’s still in good shape, but some issues are arising such as plastics, bushings, etc. It’s been a good car and it has certainly earned a restoration like this.
I had a ’90 CRX Si in barbados yellow I would love to have back factory fresh, but the more I think about it the less it appeals. It (and all of my other favorites) was cheap/plentiful/replaceable enough that I never really thought twice about actually using it. I wonder if the cost and rarity of a factory restored example would take away from that.
405 Mi16- respect. I wanted one.
My first car was a CJ5 postal Jeep. I’d happily taker it back to a post office, cash in hand!
The 1971 FIAT 850 Spider (lime green) that I bought brand new in the spring of ’71 two months before wife & I were married. Kept it until ~2005 when I pulled the engine and transmission for rebuilds only to discover serious rust in the rear. Tried to get someone trustworthy to do the rust and a good mechanic to handle the drive train. Sold it for parts. One of the saddest car related days of our lives 🙁
I have a nasty habit of driving cars out of the earth and ruin. Most of what I buy is solidly “used” car territory but every car I own is one I would love to be factory fresh new again. But the truth is that without new car money Im going to keep putting lipstick on these pigs until another tornado rips one out of my hands again.
Morale of the story, buy the nicest example of what you can afford.
I should have bought “the nicer Mi16”, too, instead of the cheapest one available.
I would love a factory freshened 2002-2003 Maxima with a 6 speed and some rustproofing.
I think there needs to be tiers to this, I’m not dropping $60k on a Miata. $30k for a refresh on a S2000, sure!
If I had one, and the money to restore one, a DB5 just like the one above.
Of the cars I’ve actually owned, maybe the ’00 Subaru 2.5RS I owned. It was closing in on 300,000 miles, but I still wish I hadn’t parted with it.
Hmm. Either of my old MR2’s, the 87 or especially the supercharged 88. It was a good looker but if you got close you could tell the whole front clip seemed to be new. Take that whole thing back to stock and never sell again.
NA Miata sounds like a fun choice for a fun car that’s incredibly analog and simple, to drive forever.
Someone mentioned WRX. I had an ’01 2.5RS with the big wing that I’d love to revisit. No turbo (lag), LSD, just point and steer. Much fun minus the rust.
Ah, great minds think alike. I miss my 2.5RS.
About 200k miles, original engine, got passed between at least 3 rallycross people that I know of, including me. Blue, I ‘dipped the wheels white and added Subaru rally graphics. I affectionatly called it Subarust.
I picked mine up with just over 250,000 miles on the original engine. Bought it from a friend who had moved on to WRXs. Mine was also blue, with a bit of rust bubbling on the rear wheel arches and a lot of missing clear coat. I had planned to make an RSTi, then kids came along and took all my fun money and I sold it for something more practical (Honda Odyssey).
Of cars I’ve actually owned at one point? 1972 BMW 2002.
I’d love a factory restoration of those tiny sports cars that got driven into the ground in droves with so few survivors now that they’ve become unobtanium, like a Honda S600, Toyota Sports 800 or Sport Prinz.
I’d send my Evo 9. Would love to have all the poorly installed mods previous owners have done put back to stock factory condition.
Honestly, I would love to start an automotive restoration shop for 80’s-00’s cars. Restored Toyota pickups are bringing MONEY. It’s a matter of time before Tacomas and 3rd gen 4runners get the same love. NA Miatas are seldom perfect; I bet there’s a market for those.
If I could have any vehicle factory restored, I think a Toyota Trekker would be hilarious, as it would have to go to Toyota first, and then to Winnebago.
My first thought was that I might want my 80 series Land Cruiser restored (that I sold a year ago). I did love it dearly. But, while old cars are cool, newer cars tend to be more functional and more comfortable. My Cruiser was more than old enough to rent a car, so I didn’t feel too bad about upgrading to something from this century with more power, heated seats, backup camera, second row heat/ac for the kids, better noise handling, etc. It would have been a pure passion project to put that much money into an inferior (yet bulletproof) vehicle that was still slow and outdated. Great for you if you have that much time and money to spare; I don’t. Which sounds a little weird to write on a car enthusiast site. Not to be negative. There are plenty of ways to enjoy cars and car projects without breaking the bank.
Torch’s 2CV.
Or David’s Cherokee, cause he’s never gonna get to it before it returns to the earth.
Next year DT: I have to get this holy grail epic overlanding Jeep ZJ with rare rear tire carrier completed in 4 weeks for Moab after signing a deal to buy all my parts from Etsy.
Would Toyota even do a factory resto on my old Truck?
No, because it’s not worn out yet; it’s a Toyota 🙂
It bugs me how wrong this isn’t.
Still. Having access to factory sheetmetal to de-aerate the bed would be nice.
A SAAB, any SAAB made in Trollhättan – because that would mean the factory would be back up and running.
I dropped by to say “SPG”.
As a runner up? My dad’s 2-door ’77 Panama Brown VW Rabbit. Nostalgia is a heady drug.
I’m a simple man, and prefer cars that I can afford to insure and that I will drive.
Hard.