When the Aston Martin DB5 first broke cover in 1963, it became at a stroke one of the most desirable and sought-after grand tourers ever created. Described by Autocar as ‘a car that defies definition’, the DB5 was all things to all men, as adept at storming the newly opened M1 motorway as it was burbling along quiet London mews—providing you could afford the £4,248 price of admission.

Already an object of desire for well-heeled automotive enthusiasts, Aston Martin’s DB5 became an icon after being thrust into the limelight while starring alongside Sean Connery in the 1965 spy thriller Goldfinger. Immortalised in celluloid, the Silver Birch dream machine became an overnight sensation that would alter, indelibly and forever, public perception not only of the model, but of the Newport Pagnell company as a whole.

Beneath its neatly tailored lines, streamlined headlamps, and smartly styled rear end, the DB5 represented the very peak of British automotive design. Power came via Aston Martin’s sublime 4.0-litre, 283-horsepower, triple-SU-fed straight-six engine—an enlarged version of the all-aluminium powerplant that lay at the heart of the outgoing DB4 GT Vantage. Allied to that was a four-speed manual gearbox—soon upgraded to a slick five-speed ZF unit—driving a live rear axle.

With a 0-60 mph sprint time of just 8.1 seconds and a top speed of 140 mph, the DB5 was the perfect tool for crossing continents in comfort, outpacing many period rivals including the fuel-injected Maserati 3500 GTI. The British machine also rivalled its European competition in terms of luxury, with a cabin trimmed in leather, reclining seats, and wool carpets cossetting its fortunate occupants. Standard equipment was also impressive, and included an alternator, chrome wire wheels, an oil cooler, power-operated windows, and twin fuel tanks. Fast, comfortable, and reassuringly expensive, the Aston Martin DB5 was one of the leading grand tourers of the 1960s—a reputation that it more than lives up to today.

Chassis 1482/R was delivered on 5 March 1964, finding a home with its first owner in Cambridgeshire. The car was attractively specified in the rare combination of California Sage over a Fawn interior, and was used regularly during the early years of its life. A copy of the original build sheet notes the rectification of an oil leak in the August of its first year, by which time the car had covered over 5,000 miles. By January of the following year, the car returned to Aston Martin, where it received cylinder head repairs and new exhaust manifolds.

The Aston Martin eventually changed hands in 1975, by which time it had been repainted in Dubonnet. The odometer is believed to have been changed shortly after, and by the end of 1976 the car had been taken off the road and laid up in a garage; it remained untaxed for the following 35 years. A true time capsule, the Aston Martin’s slumber continued after being purchased by the consignor at auction in 2011, when it was shipped to Kuwait.

This remarkable Aston Martin offers its next owner the vanishingly rare opportunity of putting their mark on a totally unrestored DB5. A prime candidate to be returned to its original condition and desirable factory specification, this “blank canvas” Aston Martin is a project too promising to ignore.