It isn't often that a Silver Birch DB5 Vantage is the least notable car of a collection, but then it's not everyday, either, that three examples of Aston Martin's most iconic model are made available. That's what Aston specialist Nicholas Mee is now offering, though, with Coupe, Volante and Shooting Brake up for sale as a DB5 trio.
You read that right, too: a DB5 Shooting Brake. Story goes that a wagon was first produced to take David Brown's gundog and polo kit wherever it needed to go, only for it to prove popular enough that 11 customers wanted their own. So, all were pretty special, but this Shooting Brake is especially so as the only one to be built from a Vantage. Commissioned by dealers Cyril Williams of Wolverhampton, the aluminium body was built by Harold Radford & Sons and reached its first owner in 1966. The excellent colour is California Sage.
But there are excellent colours, and then there's Caribbean Pearl Blue with White Gold. That's how this DB5 Vantage Convertible was first configured - with hood matching the interior, of course - one of just five drop-top Vantages. In fact, just 123 DB5 Convertibles were built in total, making them a small proportion of the 1,021 cars built between 1963 and 1965. Given they could look as good as this one, that seems a surprise.
Then there's the plain old DB5 Vantage (!). By far the most common of the more powerful Vantage models made, with 60 in total, this one is exactly how you'd picture a DB5: Silver Birch, black leather, wood-rimmed steering wheel and those lovely twin exhausts. Like both Shooting Brake and Convertible, the DB5 Vantage has been restored, meaning the collection - which has taken 12 years to amass - is ready and raring to go for its next owner. Each DB5 comes with history files include original build information, BMIHT certificates, maintenance records and details of the restorative work.
Nicholas Mee said of the trio: "In the 40 or more years I have been dealing in Aston Martin cars, I have never been more excited than to offer this fabulous collection of Iconic DB5 Vantages. Each one of them extremely rare, they are all in a beautifully restored condition and we are delighted to bring to market, this once in a lifetime opportunity for a collector to invest in this unique DB5 Vantage collection".
The Aston Martins are going to be exhibited at the London Concours, which kicks off next week, the first time all three will have been seen in public. Don't be surprised if that's where they find a buyer, too - even at £4,000,000.
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