282 bhp, 3,995 cc DOHC inline six-cylinder engine, triple SU carburettors, ZF five-speed manual gearbox, independent front suspension with upper and lower control arms, coil springs anti-roll bar, live rear axle with Watt linkage, radius rods and coil springs, and four-wheel hydraulic disc brakes. Wheelbase: 2,489 mm (98")

• A desirable, original LHD export market example

• Restored in Austria by Ernst Chalupa

• Well-maintained and regularly exercised; complete with BMHIT certificate

Aston Martin launched the DB5 in 1963, with a larger 4.0-litre engine and triple SU carburettors as standard equipment, resulting in a nearly 20 percent increase in power output. Far from being a simple evolution of its DB4 predecessor, the DB5 boasted some 170 refinements, including twin fuel-fillers, electric window lifts and a more highly-tuned exhaust system. After the first 50 or so DB5s were built, the sturdy ZF five-speed gearbox became standard equipment, giving the car longer legs for fast motorway use.

Visual changes included the sloping, attractively-cowled headlamps first offered only on the competition-oriented DB4 GT, as well as the longer dimensions of the final series five iteration of the DB4. The fundamental specifications of its esteemed predecessor remained: DOHC aluminium engine, four-wheel disc brakes, rack-and-pinion steering and an aluminium-alloy body stretched around small-gauge tubing in the “Superleggera” style of Touring in Milan, which also designed the elegant and curvaceous shape of the DB5.

According to its accompanying British Motor Industry Heritage Trust certificate, the original left-hand drive, export market DB5 offered here, chassis DB5/1398/L, was completed on 17th January 1964 and shipped on 6th February to destination dealer Franz Macho OHG in Vienna, Austria. Finished in Goodwood Green with black upholstery, the DB5 was factory-fitted with side-repeater flashers, a Motorola radio, a DB5 owner’s spares kit, a 3.77:1 rear-axle ratio, and the Borg & Beck clutch was replaced by a Laycock unit.

From 1973 to 1990, the DB5 was owned by one Mr Eisikovic of Vienna. In 2000, a restoration was performed by Ernst Chalupa of Möllersdorf, Austria, at a cost of some CHF 300,000. The following year, the DB5 was sold to Switzerland to a Mr Zehnder, who passed it to the current owner that same year, and in his ownership, the car has been maintained by Roos Engineering. Accompanied by maintenance and service invoices and exercised regularly, particularly between Zurich and Gstaad, this highly desirable “gentleman’s express” remains a very fine example indeed.