An Aston Martin DB5 that was bought by Sir Paul McCartney in 1964 will crest a wave of sought-after Astons that includes an extremely rare Shooting Brake and a desirable Youngtimer prototype, when RM’s annual Battersea sale gets under way on 31 October.
The DB5 is thought to be the first Aston that McCartney owned, which he bought directly after the band’s first live television performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.
Extras included an unusual Philips Auto-Mignon record player and musical note-styled patterns in the stitching – an authentic sample of which is supplied with the reupholstered car.
The GT would be owned by the singer for six years with Time Magazine saying of the star: ‘Bachelor Paul, 25, is a movie addict, loves ‘the look of London,’ and tools around town in a spiffy blue Aston Martin DB5.’
After having a handful of owners, the coupé was bought in 2002 by a British collector who commissioned Walter Baroni, of Corsico, Milan, to perform an extensive restoration that included a bare-metal sanding and repaint in the car’s original colour of Sierra Blue, as well as the installation of a new grey interior. The job was completed in early-2011 in time for an H&H auction where the machine failed to sell.
It will cross the block again next week with an estimate of £300-380,000 and no reserve.
Commanding the same ballpark figure will be a 1967 DB6 Shooting Brake. Innes Ireland (F1 driver and winner of the Tourist Trophy) bought a standard DB6 in 1967 and in ’69 sent it for conversion at FLM Panelcraft in London.
