Some cars carry stories that mean a lot more than their appearance or mechanical integrity, whether they’re in concours condition or junkers. John Williams bought his dream car, a 1965 Aston Martin DB5, as a teenager after a year of saving every penny from his welding job. At just 19 years old, he made the long train journey from North Wales to London and handed over £900 (converts to just under $400 in 1973) for the silver sports car. For four years, he drove it daily, living the dream that started when he received a toy Aston Martin as an eight-year-old.
Then life intervened. A job opportunity in the Middle East meant the DB5 ended up parked in his driveway in 1977. What began as temporary storage turned into decades of neglect.
The neighbors’ kids who bounced on the hood and even snapped off the exhaust pipe treated James Bond’s car like a jungle gym. Mice turned the interior into their playground. Rain and the hands of time took their toll on the classic Aston.
Williams refused to give up the DB5 he bought in the early 1970s despite receiving multiple offers over the years. His wife, Sue, gave him the perfect reason to keep it by simply saying he would never find another one. That sentiment proved prophetic. The car’s rarity became more apparent as time passed. Only 1,022 DB5 models were ever built between 1963 and 1965, and this particular example was one of just 39 finished in Silver Birch paint with the higher output Vantage engine and right-hand drive configuration. Williams saw values for DB5s cross the half-million dollar mark, and then cross the million dollar milestone.
In 2022, he finally made the decision to restore his beloved car. He chose Aston Martin Works at Newport Pagnell, the very facility where thousands of these hand-built vehicles came to life. The restoration started in 2022 and took three years, taking over 2,500 hours of meticulous labor. The team stripped everything down to the chassis and Superleggera frame, hand-forming new aluminum body panels using traditional techniques.
The transformation proved extraordinary. What Williams purchased for under $400 decades ago now carries an estimated value exceeding $1.3 million. More importantly, he can finally drive his dream car again after nearly half a century parked on his driveway.
