A 1965 Aston Martin DB5 has returned to its birthplace in Newport Pagnell for a full restoration, 50 years after it was bought for just £900 by a then 19-year-old from North Wales.
John Williams, a welder and garage owner, first saw the Vantage-spec DB5 in a 1973 issue of Motorsport Magazine. At the time, he’d spent over a year saving up for the car, working overtime to make the equivalent of around £15,000 in today’s money. His hard work eventually paid off, and he ended up taking a train to London before returning home with the Silver Birch DB5.
For four years, the car was his daily driver before being parked on his driveway in 1977 when John took a job in the Middle East. Despite the temptation to sell over the decades, and a fair bit of wear and tear from local children treating the car as a playground, the DB5 remained in his possession.
“Then… ‘life’ happened. I’d had offers to buy her, and times when I could have done with the money, but I resisted and, as Sue [John’s wife] said ‘you’ll never get another one‘. As time went on it became a goal of mine to get her restored; to be able to drive her again. Being a garage man, I was a bit ashamed that I’d let her get into that state. I worked hard to buy her, and we’ve worked hard to get her repaired.”
John Williams
Aston Martin Works took on the three-year restoration starting in late 2022. The car returned to Newport Pagnell, where it was originally built, to undergo a bare-metal restoration. Over 2,500 hours went into returning it to what Aston Martin describes as “better-than-new” condition.
The Williams’ DB5 is a rare example, too. It is one of only 39 built with the Vantage engine, right-hand drive, and finished in Silver Birch, the same colour made famous by James Bond.
Now complete, the car could be worth up to £1 million, though John has no plans to sell it. After five decades and thousands of miles, he finally got behind the wheel again a few days ago.
“It looks like an Aston Martin now. I’m thrilled. It’s great to see all the old ways of building a car have been passed on, and younger people here are keeping up the tradition. It’s probably almost 50 years since I have driven this car, but the experience is phenomenal. It’s just… unbelievable. My girl’s back and up and running! Back to her former glory.”
John Williams
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