FROM A £900 DREAM TO A LEGIT SILVER BIRCH LEGEND - THIS ASTON MARTIN DB5 HAS THE ULTIMATE RESTORATION STORY
Some cars appreciate quietly. Others gather stories, scars, and soul along the way. This Aston Martin DB5 has done all three. Bought for just £900 in the early 1970s by an 18-year-old Welsh welder with big dreams and a fierce work ethic, this 1965 DB5 has now completed a painstaking, no-expense-spared restoration at Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell - the very place where it was born. For John Williams, that journey began with overtime shifts, a long train ride to London, and a leap of faith on a Vantage-engined DB5 advertised in Motorsport magazine. For years, it was his daily driver, rumbling back to North Wales with wire wheels spinning and Weber-fed straight-six muscle doing what Astons do best. Then life intervened. A job in the Middle East, a driveway exile, decades of patience, temptation resisted, and a quiet promise to himself that one day, the car would return to the road properly. That promise became reality in late 2022 when John and his wife Sue, entrusted the DB5 to Aston Martin Works, beginning a three-year, 2,500-hour restoration that stripped the car back to bare metal.
The Superleggera chassis was rebuilt, aluminium panels were hand-formed by craftsmen passing down techniques unchanged for generations, and every detail was restored with reverence rather than haste. This wasn’t just any DB5, either. It’s a right-hand-drive, Silver Birch, Vantage-spec saloon - one of just 39 built in this exact configuration, out of fewer than 1,000 DB5 saloons ever made. Its early life even included a first owner from Surrey’s St George’s Hill, once home to the likes of John Lennon and Ringo Starr. By the time the Williamses returned to Newport Pagnell to see their car completed, what stood before them wasn’t merely restored - it was reborn. For John, the moment was equal parts pride and emotion. Nearly 50 years since he last properly drove it, the DB5 now feels “phenomenal”, a machine restored not just to former glory, but beyond it. Aston Martin Works President Paul Spires estimates that, given its rarity and provenance, the car could command up to £1 million if it ever went to market - but that’s beside the point. This DB5 isn’t a commodity; it’s a life companion. In Aston Martin’s 70th anniversary year at Newport Pagnell, the story feels perfectly timed: a reminder that the real value of these cars isn’t just in silver paint and polished aluminium, but in the dedication of owners who hold onto dreams for half a century, and craftsmen who still know how to bring them back to life properly. As John put it, simply and perfectly: “My girl’s back.”
Take a look at the YouTube video from the Motor Sport crew that delves into the absolutely massive restoration of this Aston Martin DB5. This story is so damn cool it should have it's own Netflix series: Aston Martin DB5 restored: the classic car left to decay that's now worth £1m | Motor Sport
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