CORGI TOYS considered manufacturing JAMES BOND's ASTON MARTIN D.B.5 in 1964, but decided against it. Then they had a change of heart and rush-released the car to meet the Christmas market of 1965. This meant taking a few shortcuts. They didn't have time to create new tooling for a D.B.5, so they used the existing mould for their D.B.4 model and adapted it for the purpose.
It's not widely known that the car in GOLDFINGER was the prototype D.B.5 - in actuality a D.B.4 MARK V VANTAGE, so Corgi weren't too far removed from reality in utilising their D.B.4 moulds in order to get the toy into shops in time for Christmas. Painted gold due to supposedly looking like bare metal when silver, the colour tied in to the title of the film it appeared in - GOLDFINGER. I have an alternate theory, however, which is this. (Complete speculation on my part.)
I sometimes fancifully wonder if a Corgi employee was despatched to the cinema to determine the car's hue (perhaps on account of only being supplied b&w photo reference), saw the opening credits where excerpts from the movie were projected onto MARGARET NOLAN's undulating, gold-painted figure, and reported back that 007's car was gold. Unlikely? You never can tell, but I'll concede that it's pure conjecture with no evidence to support it.
The car was blown to smithereens in SKYFALL, so it'll be interesting to see if it ever appears again in a Bond movie. If not, we can seek solace in the Corgi car from our childhoods - if we're lucky enough to actually own one of course. I've got two originals, plus the 1968 correct silver birch colour in a slightly larger scale - not to mention various other versions released down through the years. I'll be showing a completely unique, recent Corgi model of the car in an upcoming post.
Meanwhile, enjoy looking at the original.
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Excellent toy. An auntie of mine was visiting London at the time of it's initial release and brought me and my brother one a piece back. I really should get a replica box for my battered original.
ReplyDeleteMake sure you get a decent one, Scoop. I've seen some awful ones - described as 'state of the art" too. They were mingin'.
ReplyDeleteI was the proud owner of the first, gold version. I think it came from a paper shop on the High Street in Glasgow, near the Trongate. I got a silver version a couple of years later.
ReplyDeleteTo you, Dougie, goes the distinction of being the first person I know who even remembers the silver birch version. Younger people tend to remember the late '70s 1.36 scale version, but all my contemporaries with whom I'm still in touch only seem to recall the gold model.
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