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James Bond car sells for $1.9 million
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-22 11:08
A Swiss businessman won the keys to James Bond's silver 1965 Aston Martin DB5
coupe on Friday with a $1.9 million bid at an annual classic car auction in
Arizona.
People inspect a James Bond's 1965 Aston
Martin DB5 coupe on auction at the Arizona Biltmore Resort in Phoenix,
Arizona January 20, 2006. [Reuters] |
The
45-year-old man, who did not want to be identified, placed his bids over the
telephone through friend and car dealer Beat Roos to win the gadget-packed 007
car used in such classics as "Goldfinger" and "Thunderball." Both men live in
Bern, Switzerland.
"His instructions were to bring the car back to Switzerland," Roos said.
The winner, who was bidding in his first auction, will add the car to a
collection of some dozen vehicles that includes classic Aston Martins and
Porsches.
Auction officials had estimated that Bond's vehicle could fetch between $1.5
million and $2.5 million.
Two other classics cars also were sold, with bidders paying $565,000 for
gangster Al Capone's 1928 Cadillac sedan and $195,000 for country music singer
Hank Williams Jr.'s 1964 Pontiac Bonneville convertible, officials said.
All three vehicles had been at the Smoky Mountain Car Museum in Tennessee.
The sale, presented by Canada's RM Auctions, is one of five held by different
companies in the Phoenix area through the end of the month. More than $100
million is expected to be spent on vehicles of all makes and
sizes.
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