Prices DB 5 vs DB 6 ?

[Boxer]

As a Aston novice, one thing I have not been able to figure out is why DB 5 prices are so much higher than DB 6. Any idea ?

[DJ Dirk]

well, it's an older car, and less made
there where 886 DB5 Coupe's build and 1321 DB6 Coupe
with both not counting the Volante's & Shooting Brakes

and the price difference is not too great, you can buy 2 decent DB6's for the price of 1 decent DB5 :mrgreen:

[Boxer]

Not sure the production numbers justify the 2X difference in price. Is there anything else that is driving the market ?

[DJ Dirk]

how about DB5 = James Bond :wink:

[Boxer]

Yes but then an early Lotus Esprit would be worth 10 times what they currently go for.

[DJ Dirk]

hmm, true
and those you can pick-up for 10.000 €

[Boxer]

Could it be the Sean Connery effect ? Connery DB 5 --- Roger Monroe Lotus Esprit ?

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by DJ Dirk

hmm, true
and those you can pick-up for 10.000 €

You can, but I would not.... :roll: :roll:

[Andrew]

A local mechanic has the exact model from the movie "Moon Racker" and swears the owner will sell it for $30,000. Next time I'm at his shop I'll snap a photo.

What are the prices for a DB5? I thought the DB4 was the holy grail in the Aston Martin world.

[Boxer]

I have always thought that the DB 5 was "the" vintage Aston to have. In terms of price, you can download a pricing information from:

http://www.classicandsportscar.com/price_guide_home.asp

[mchferrari]

What is a shooting brake?

[DJ Dirk]

THE road Aston to have is a DB4GT Zagato :wink:
but only 19 made of those

[DJ Dirk]

Originally Posted by Andrew

A local mechanic has the exact model from the movie "Moon Racker" and swears the owner will sell it for $30,000. Next time I'm at his shop I'll snap a photo.

What are the prices for a DB5? I thought the DB4 was the holy grail in the Aston Martin world.

bond didn't use a car in Moonraker

you are thinking of Goldfinger, that's the one with the DB5, and that car also appears in the beginning of GoldenEye

[DJ Dirk]

BTW

here's one of the actual Goldeneye DB5's

[Andrew]

I will email the person that has the car. It could have been in the movie The Living Daylights, but I believe he said Moon Raker. In Moon Raker was there an Aston parked at MI-6 that Bond never actually drove?

[DJ Dirk]

that i can't remember

in the living daylights he drove an Aston V8 Volante & Vantage
that was the best one with Timothy Dalton

[theflynn]

They made an awful lot more of the Lotus' than they did with a DB5. That and along with the James Bond part is key to the value. A Lotus is a nice car but not hand made to the extent an early Aston was.
A shooting brake is not a DB4 Zagato but is an estate wagon or better known as a station wagon. They are very rare as very few were ever made of any model.

[mchferrari]

What is a shooting brake?

[Boxer]

A Shooting Brake is what would be called a Station Wagon in the US.

[mchferrari]

Originally Posted by Boxer

A Shooting Brake is what would be called a Station Wagon in the US.

Sorry I should have read all of the post that was right above mine. ops:

[JamesBond]

Although DB5 prices have been talked up by owners who overpaid in the first place and dealers trying to make a thick profit, cars that are actually changing hands privately and at auction don't show the same values.

The last two DB5s I saw go at auction this year went for £28K and £40K respectively. In fact, some DB6s at the same auction went for much the same money - although they were in better condition.

I would suggest that the "James Bond" premium of the DB5 over the vastly superior DB6 is about 30% now.

On a "like for like" basis between the last DB5s and the DB6 is a MUCH better car. Contemporary reviews couldn't get more enthusiastic about the improvements.

The DB6 Mk1 has better performance than a DB5 due to superior aerodynamics from the DP214 Le Mans car at a weight penalty of only 7Kgs. The engine is more powerful due to changed jetting in the carbs to take the lower drag into account and the ignition system is different - one of the big problems with the Tadek engine is the poor combustion chamber shape and the difficulty of igniting the mixture correctly.

The brakes are much improved too.

Obviously comparing the DB6 to the early 3.7 litre four speed DB5 is pointless as the early DB5 is awful.

[Boxer]

Thank you for the insights. I went back and read several old reviews and the DB6 cetainly was seen as a major improvement over the DB5 when it was first introduced.

My guess is that todays' DB5 premium is driven by:

- fewer cars produced
- slightly more elegant lines (no cropped Kamm tail)
- Bond premium
- Dealers driving the market

[JamesBond]

I think the jury is rather still out on the "elegance" or otherwise of the back end. I think that those DB5 fins look rather silly!

One point to remember - especially when considering rarity value - is manual or automatic. Far more Automatic DB6s were produced than manuals making a manual DB6 far rarer than a manual DB5 and that's why you can pay £10K+ more for a manual DB6 over an automatic one.

Mike.

[Boxer]

Interesting comment on the DB6 Automatic vs Manual gearboxes. Thinking back, most of the DB6's that I have seen go across the auction block for reasonable money were all automatics.