No Mr. Bond, I expect you to sell: Thunderball DB5 goes under the hammer

The latest silver-screen Aston Martin to go under the hammer is the 1965 DB5 used to promote Thunderball in North America, and fetched $9.4 million at auction in California. That makes it the most expensive DB5 ever sold at auction.

Although it was never filmed, the DB5 you see here is fitted with 13 working gadgets, including working machine guns, tyre slashers, a pop-up bulletproof rear screen, an oil slick creator, and an in-door telephone.

They won't actually shoot your enemies, but the guns have been restored to pop and bang for effect.

“No other car in history has played a more important leading role on film and in pop culture than the Aston Martin DB5," said Barney Ruprecht from RM Sotheby's.

Power in the DB5 comes from a 4.0-litre inline-six making 210kW and 380Nm, put to the rear wheels through a five-speed manual transmission.

Since appearing in Goldfinger and Thunderball, the DB5 has featured alongside Pierce Brosnan in Tomorrow Never Dies and GoldenEye, and shared star billing with Daniel Craig in Casino Royale, Skyfall, and Spectre.

“These DB5s are amazing," said Sean Connery, who played Bond in five films between 1962 and 1967.

"I remember the Furka Pass tire shredding, as well as the promotional events with these cars—they have become increasingly iconic since Goldfinger and Thunderball. In fact, I bought a very fine DB5 myself relatively recently."