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’ve always wanted my BMW e36 M3 to be minty fresh so that I could know that I can continue to drive the wheels off of it for years to come. I’d buy a new e36 M3 at a dealership tomorrow if I could.
My Dodge 1800! To be a driver it doesn’t need a whole lot, but to really be a decent car, it does. Not sure if the factory that built it exists or not, as it eventually wound up with VW when Chrysler pulled the plug on the South American market.
I feel like sending the ’05 GTO back to Australia might be cost prohibitive. But of my current cars it’s the obvious choice. Getting my 1961 Oldsmobile 98 back to factory spec would have been awesome if we’re going through my automotive history. Though I’d have to retrofit some modern audio once I got it back.
On a lot of my old cars, the factory doesn’t exist anymore. Though my Jeep is a Toledo Trash Heap, I suppose they could still deal with it. Would probably be even less reliable than it is now though
Only factory restoration to lower the value of the car haha.
Cherokee Chief 4Xe
My own ’89 Volvo 240 wagon with it’s peeling clearcoat and missing wheel centers. Have the restorer repaint it (inside and out of course) to classic Volvo ‘medium blue shade’ aka Smurf Blue. I drove it all the F over Hollywood and Burbank yesterday and now that the timing’s right, it felt/sounded/even smelled way better than when I bought it. 🙂
Any Euro or JDM spec CRX with a ZC or B16A engine.
Speaking of this AM – not enough pictures, but it does look suspiciously good in the “before” pics. Rotten paint aside – the interior has not sat open, the leather looks like new just waiting for a cleanup, and it seems remarkably complete. I won’t even comment on the headlights, windshield and overall glass, which also look like new.
This thing might have sat in a driveway, but it was at least under a tarp or cover or something.
And the kids playing on and in it must have been on the polite and light side – no abandoned vehicle I played in as a kid survived without dings, and every single button and switch ending up in my pockets.