FOR SALE ONE CARELESS OWNER

We visit the charity auction where buyers can bag a slice of Bond memorabilia

- Tristan Shale-Hester

IT'S not only actors who can be movie stars - in some instances, a car can take as big a role in a film as the person behind the wheel. Take the DMC DeLorean from Back to the Future, for example, or The Ghostbusters' famous Cadillac Ambulance, Ecto-1.

One film franchise that has always known the value of putting an automobile at the centre of attention is James Bond. We all remember the Lotus Esprit that turned into a submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me and the gorgeous BMW Z8 that got sawed in half in The World is Not Enough.

But even though Bond opted for a Bentley in lan Fleming's novels, there's no manufacturer more closely associated with 007 than Aston Martin. In fact, we'd go as far as to say there's no stronger on-screen brand relationship than that of the fictional MI6 agent and his favourite British sports car maker. And of all the Aston Martins to appear in the Bond films - including two different generations of DBS, a V8 Vantage, a V12 Vanquish and even the one-off DB10 none will ever be as iconic as the DB5.

CONTROL - DB5 has a bespoke chassis, plus controls for miniguns and revolving reg plates

Sporting the number plate BMT 216A, this classic first appeared with Sean Connery in 1964's Goldfinger, and has so far featured in 13 Bond flicks, most recently Daniel Craig's final outing, No Time to Die.

As anyone who has seen that movie will know, the DB5 plays a fairly prominent role, particularly in an action sequence towards the beginning. To film this, eight stunt cars were required, but what happens to them once their purpose has been fulfilled?