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Aston Martin recreates iconic James Bond ‘Goldfinger’ DB5

Aston Martin recreates iconic James Bond 'Goldfinger' DB5

Published: Aug 19, 2018

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Neil Allison

20 August 2018, Gaydon: The iconic Aston Martin DB5 is back, thanks to a unique collaboration between Aston Martin and EON Productions, the company that produces the James Bond films.
Following the successful DB4 G.T. continuation project, a series of 25 Goldfinger DB5 continuation editions*, will be created for customers by Aston Martin Works and EON Productions. The Goldfinger DB5 continuation will be based on James Bond’s legendary car from 1964 and built by Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell – the original home of the DB5. They will be authentic reproductions of the DB5 seen on screen, with some sympathetic modifications to ensure the highest levels of build quality and reliability.
This authenticity will extend to include functioning gadgets such as revolving number plates and more, which were made famous in Goldfinger. The gadgetswill be co-developed with Oscar®-winner Chris Corbould, special effects supervisor from the James Bond films. Officially sanctioned by Aston Martin and EON Productions, all the Goldfinger edition cars will be produced to one specification – Silver Birch paint – just like the original.
The most instantly recognisable car of all-time, the DB5 made its first appearance in the third James Bond movie, Goldfinger, alongside Sean Connery as James Bond. Laden with gadgets and armaments installed by Q Branch, the secret agent’s Aston Martin became an instant hit with moviegoers.
Since its seminal appearance in Goldfinger the DB5 has featured in a further six James Bond movies: Thunderball (1965), again with Connery; GoldenEye (1995) and Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) with Pierce Brosnan and three appearances alongside Daniel Craig in Casino Royale (2006), Skyfall (2012) and Spectre (2015). James Bond and his DB5 have become two icons of popular culture and one of the most successful and enduring movie partnerships of all-time.
Such was its popularity, the DB5’s movie debut even spawned a Corgi die-cast model, an astonishing 2.5m of which were sold in its first year of production (1965). No wonder an entire generation of children grew-up aspiring to own an Aston Martin. Now, thanks to the remarkable Goldfinger DB5 continuation project, a fortunate 25 of them can now own a faithful and authentic tribute to that original car. A further three cars will be built – one each for EON and Aston Martin, plus another to be auctioned for charity.
Andy Palmer, President and Chief Executive Officer, Aston Martin, said: “The connection between Aston Martin and James Bond is something of which we are very proud and it is remarkable that the DB5 remains the definitive James Bond car after so many years. To own an Aston Martin has long been an aspiration for James Bond fans, but to own a Silver Birch DB5, complete with gadgets and built to the highest standards in the very same factory as the original James Bond cars? Well, that is surely the ultimate collectors’ fantasy. The skilled craftspeople at Aston Martin Works and the expert special effects team from the James Bond films are about to make this fantasy real for 25 very lucky customers.”
Paul Spires, Managing Director at Aston Martin Works, added of the Goldfinger DB5 continuationeditions: “The connection between Aston Martin and James Bond originated more than half a century ago. Creating 25 Goldfinger DB5continuations and working with EON Productions and special effects supervisor, Chris Corbould, is something truly unique and a real career highlight for everyone involved here at Aston Martin Works.”
Each Goldfinger DB5 continuation car will be priced at £2.75m plus taxes. First deliveries to customers will commence in 2020.

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Study: States should require licensed drivers for robot cars

Study: States should require licensed drivers for robot carsWashington — A group that represents state highway safety offices is urging states like Michigan to consider requiring licenses for self-driving cars operators because they likely are decades away from being fully automated.
The Washington-based Governors Highway Safety Association says in a study released Wednesday that states should prepare themselves for establishing licensing requirements for self-driving cars because autonomous vehicles “for the foreseeable future will share driving responsibility with humans, and are likely do so for many decades.”
The findings represent an injection of regulatory reality into the race for autonomous leadership. The battle for next-generation leadership is pitting Detroit’s automakers and their global rivals against a deep-pocketed tech industry based in China and, especially, Silicon Valley.
The study recommends that states “consider laws requiring or assuming that a licensed driver is present in each vehicle, especially for AVs (autonomous vehicles) in which a licensed driver may be called upon to take control.” It also suggests that states “update traffic laws to accommodate AVs and help to prepare state driver licensing agencies to identify and register AVs” and “establish law enforcement policies and procedures regarding AV operations and train all patrol officers in these policies and procedures.
Federal regulators have thus far shied away from the notion of craft rules for self-driving car operators, focusing instead on testing and regulation of the autonomous vehicles. They argue states are best equipped to continued setting rules for road as they do now.
“States need to consider a number of new issues related to the practical deployment of this technology,” Jim Hedlund, a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration who authored the study, said in a statement. “One of the most important goals should be to educate the public about the benefits and risks of this technology, how to use it safely, and drive near AVs in traffic.”
Congress is working to craft rules that would govern the testing and eventual sale for mass consumption of self-driving cars. The Senate is debating a new law that would allow each automaker to sell more than 80,000 self-driving cars per year, but the measure has been held up for nearly a year amid concerns about the liability rules that would govern crashes involving self-driving cars and the vulnerability of driverless systems to potential hackers.
A similar self-driving measure sailed through the House of Representatives with relatively ease last year.
The U.S. Department of Transportation also has proposed self-driving rules that focus on a set of 15 guidelines calling for automakers and technology companies to voluntarily report on their testing and safety of autonomous cars to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration before the cars are used by the public.
Under the DOT proposal, before self-driving cars are allowed to roll on U.S. roads, automakers would be required to report how they were tested, how the systems work and what happens if those systems fail.
The Trump administration has said it is working on what would be a third set of voluntary guidelines for self-driving cars issued by the federal government since 2016.
Both sets of proposed rules call for states and other local jurisdictions to defer to the federal government on regulations related to self-driving cars’ design, construction, software or communication. Under both proposals, states still would be allowed to regulate registration, licensing, liability, education and training, insurance or traffic laws.
Jonathan Adkins, GHSA Executive Director, said states will likely have to continue to play a role in self-driving car regulation for long after the technology is initially rolled out.
“Imperfect human drivers aren’t disappearing anytime soon and even with self-driving technology, they will still be in a position to cause crashes, deaths, and injuries on our roads,” Adkins said. “As autonomous vehicle technology advances, states still must invest in programs to prioritize safe travel behavior.”
Ryan Gammelgard, counsel at State Farm, which funded the self-driving study, said in an interview with The Detroit News that the insurance industry agrees it is “very important to not lose sight of the role that humans are going to have in this.
“We worked really hard over the last year to make sure insurance is at the table as some of these issues are being discussed,” he said. “We can’t ignore reality that automakers and tech companies are spending $80 to $100 billion in order to implement this technology.”
klaing@detroitnews.com
(202) 662-8735
Twitter: @Keith_Laing
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Ford’s Corktown campus cost: $740M

Ford’s Corktown campus cost: $740MFord's new beginning for the old train station FullscreenPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.
Buy PhotoFord Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. stands in the lobby of the former Michigan Central Depot train station in Detroit, June 14, 2018. Ford Motor Co.'s purchase of the building and several others in Corktown will allow the automaker to build a new mobility corridor along Michigan Avenue, from Corktown to its facilities in Dearborn, Willow Run and the University of Michigan campus.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy Photo”It's not just a building,” Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. told The Detroit News in an interview. “It's an amazing building, but it's about all the connections to Detroit, to the suburbs, and the vision around developing the next generation of transportation.”Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoMichigan Central Depot would attract new employees to develop the mobility, autonomy and electrification technologies billed as the biggest disruptors to the auto industry since Henry Ford began making Model T's for the masses. A view of the Detroit skyline from the top floor of the Michigan Central Depot train station.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoThe Corktown outpost is meant to supplement Ford's work on its Dearborn campus, and it will use a portion of the undisclosed dollar amount Ford set aside in 2016 to accomplish that redesign. The lobby of the Michigan Central Depot train station.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy Photo”It's not just a building,” said Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr., standing in the depot's atrium. “It's an amazing building, but it's about all the connections to Detroit, to the suburbs, and the vision around developing the next generation of transportation.”Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoA hallway leads to the lobby. Ford expects the building to attract new employees to develop the mobility, autonomy and electrification technologies important for its future.Buy PhotoFullscreenAn artist's rendering shows a market for fresh produce in the atrium space.FullscreenBuy PhotoThe ground floor lobby of the 18-story, 500,000-square-foot building would be open to the public. That space could house markets, coffee shops, restaurants, retail and gathering spaces. A hotel or residential component also is being considered.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoFord's plan for the depot is currently an outline. Bill Ford Jr. envisions a bustling public space akin to San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace.Buy PhotoFullscreenIn addition to the train station, above, Ford has purchased these Corktown properties: The Factory, 1907 Michigan Ave.; the old book depository, 2231 Dalzelle St.; and vacant land adjacent to PAL complex.FullscreenA rendering imagines the ground floor of the old Michigan Central Depot as a public space with retail, restaurants and gathering spaces.FullscreenBuy Photo”One thing I don't want to do is take a beautiful building and put something that's garish on there,” Bill Ford Jr. said. ”
“We don't want to be isolated and we don't want to be seen as taking over the community by any means.”Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoA small fraction of the company's Dearborn workforce would move into the station, with all but Ford's electrification and autonomous driving teams remaining in Dearborn to occupy the sprawling, estimated $1 billion campus redesign there slated for completion in the mid-2020s.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoRoughly a third of the renovation cost would be comped by tax breaks for the historic restoration of the depot. Ford, the city, and the former owners of the building have declined comment on the purchase price or how much Ford will spend on the renovation.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoA small fraction of the company's Dearborn workforce would move into the station, with all but Ford's electrification and autonomous driving teams remaining in Dearborn to occupy the sprawling, estimated $1 billion campus redesign there slated for completion in the mid-2020s.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoWhile the public space would occupy the 300,000 square feet on the ground floor of the station and other Corktown properties, 2,500 Ford employees and 2,500 partner employees would occupy the remaining 900,000 square feet come 2022. This is the top floor.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoFord CEO Jim Hackett said the Corktown outpost will give Ford's teams access to a true urban landscape in which to test autonomous technology and how those vehicles will need to communicate with traffic systems, delivery destinations and other infrastructure.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoHackett said the Corktown project won't cost Ford any more than the estimated $1 billion it budgeted for the Dearborn transformation plan. Money for the Corktown outpost came out of that original budget. Above, a stairwell on the top floor of the Michigan Central Depot.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoThe ticket booths used to occupy this space in the Michigan Central Depot.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoFord will announce officially on June 19 its plans for the building, followed by a party in Roosevelt Park in front of the long-vacant building.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoWorkers prepare for Ford's press conference Tuesday, June 19, to talk about their purchase of the train station.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoLighting crews work in the lobby to prepare for the Tuesday, June 19 press conference.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy Photo”This is our home,” Bill Ford Jr. said during an interview in Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn. “We're not leaving by any means. By the end of this we'll have a large multiple of employees in Dearborn versus Detroit.” Bill Ford Jr., chairman of Ford Motor Company, speaks about the purchase of the Michigan Train from the Moroun family during an interview from Ford World Headquarters in Dearborn on Thursday, June 14, 2018.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoReviving the depot and establishing Corktown on that mobility corridor will require tax incentives to renovate the building at its heart, according to Bill Ford Jr. A stairwell on the top floor.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy PhotoBill Ford said the depot restoration price “dwarfs the purchase price.” Workers prepare for Ford's press conference to celebrate their purchase of the train station.Buy PhotoFullscreenBuy Photo”This is an exclamation point” for Detroit's resurgence,” Bill Ford Jr. said. “Ford and Detroit have seen good times, we've seen bad times, and this is a tough region. We've been through it together. This is an authentic move for the city and for us. Frankly, it's where it all began.”Buy PhotoFullscreenReplay1 of 262 of 263 of 264 of 265 of 266 of 267 of 268 of 269 of 2610 of 2611 of 2612 of 2613 of 2614 of 2615 of 2616 of 2617 of 2618 of 2619 of 2620 of 2621 of 2622 of 2623 of 2624 of 2625 of 2626 of 26AutoplayShow ThumbnailsShow CaptionsFord Motor Co. plans to spend as much as $740 million on its planned 1.2 million-square-foot Corktown campus, company officials announced Tuesday night.
The automaker said it expects to seek $250 million over 34 years through local, state, federal tax incentives to offset the cost, a representative said, as it launches its ambitious plan to revitalize the area, including the derelict Michigan Central Depot.
“We are excited by the opportunities that Ford’s investment in the train station and other key Corktown sites will bring, not only for the larger resurgence of the neighborhood but all of Southeast Michigan, including economic growth, attracting world-class talent and leading the development for the next generation of the automotive industry,” Ford Land said in a statement.
“Given Ford’s investment in the Corktown projects, we are actively working with federal, state and local officials for tax and other incentives to support the development.”
The investment involves five Corktown neighborhood sites, including the building and land purchase as well as expected building exterior and infrastructure rehabilitation costs over the next four years, Ford Land said Tuesday.
The cost estimate was unveiled during a neighborhood advisory council meeting at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers No. 58 in Detroit on Tuesday. The panel is slated to work with Ford to create a community benefits agreement.
The city recently released the complete list of area residents appointed to serve on the nine-member neighborhood advisory council. The advisory council members are:
— David Esparza, Nicole Rittenouer, Mike Ransom and Ken Jameson appointed by Planning and Development Department Director Maurice Cox.
— Robin Ussery appointed by Detroit City Council member Raquel Castañeda-López. Previously, City Council President Brenda Jones selected Hubbard-Richard resident Aliyah Sabree, a judge in the 36th District Court.
— Councilwoman Janee Ayers chose Sheila Cockrel, a Corktown resident and former member of the city council.
–The community voted for Jerry Paffendorf, co-owner of Loveland Technologies, and Heather McKeon, an interior designer with Patrick Thompson Design.
Upcoming advisory council meetings are scheduled for Aug. 27, Sept. 10 and Sept. 17.
Ford has been working to collect comments on its plans restore the iconic Michigan Central Station building, which the company expects to occupy by 2022, as well as parts of the surrounding Corktown neighborhood.
Ford said the 500,000-square-foot, 18-story train station will anchor a campus for the company's self-driving, electric car and alternative transportation teams, as well as the automaker's partners.
The Dearborn automaker is bringing 2,500 people from its autonomous technology and electrification departments to Corktown; another 2,500 employees are arriving from startups and other partner companies.
The company expects to occupy the long-vacant depot by 2022.
During a community meeting l..

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