The 1960 Aston Martin DB4GT 'Jet' Coupe that was offered...

The 1960 Aston Martin DB4GT 'Jet' Coupe that was offered for sale in a Bonham auction. Credit: Bonham

An Aston Martin DB4 set an auction record of $4.85 million for the “James Bond” maker in a weekend sale as even wrecks found in barns sold for above- estimate prices.

A 1964 DB5 discovered after three decades in an old garage with a mouse nest in its engine bay sold for 320,700 pounds ($486,469) in the U.K. event by Bonhams. A grime-encrusted 1966 DB6 Vantage Sports Saloon Project, also untouched for 30 years, fetched 107,900 pounds.

Partly thanks to its “007” associations, Aston Martin is the most desirable U.K. marque for collectors of classic sports cars. Prices have risen as such autos have become an increasingly popular alternative investment.

“The DB5 is one of the models that has led value increases in the classic-car market,” Neil Dickens, co-director of the Wiltshire-based dealership the Hairpin Company, said before the event. “The market for this marque is as strong as you could hope for, with the possible exception of Ferrari.”

The “Blue Chip” index of the best examples compiled by Michigan-based Hagerty, based on sales from more than 15 auction houses, reached an all-time high of 240.9 in April.

The unique DB4GT “Jet” Coupe, bespoke styled by the Italian design house Bertone, was estimated between 2.8 million pounds and 3.8 million pounds at hammer prices. It was bought by an anonymous bidder in the room for a formal price of 3.2 million pounds with fees at the 14th annual sale at the carmaker’s factory in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.

Connery’s Goldfinger

Created for the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, the Aston Martin “Jet” was being sold from a collector’s estate and hasn’t been seen on the market for more than 25 years. The price on May 18 beat the 2.9 million pounds given at RM Auctions in 2010 for a 1964 silver DB5 driven by Sean Connery in the James Bond movie “Goldfinger.”

Bonhams’s total of 9.6 million pounds with fees was a record for this annual auction. The result beat a low estimate of 7.3 million pounds, based on hammer prices, and all but two of the 47 offered Astons found buyers.

The equivalent sale last year, with 46 cars and memorabilia, raised 6.5 million pounds.

So called “barn finds” — cars in untouched condition — are highly prized by collectors in a selective market for classic models that puts a premium on originality.

With blue bodywork, the DB5 was bought by a bidder in the room against an estimate of 150,000 pounds to 200,000 pounds.

Nest Bargain

The mice had moved out of the sports saloon before its cylinders were re-lubricated and it restarted without difficulty, if noisily, the seller said. The nest made of shredded newspaper was in place and included in the price.

The car had been bought in 1972 for 1,500 pounds by David Ettridge, an Aston Martin Owners Club member, who drove it until 1980. Ettridge died in 2011. Bonhams said the car, which had been stored in Sidmouth, Devon, western England, was perfectly preserved. Dealers estimated the restoration would cost about 200,000 pounds.

“This allows wealthy car owners to choose how they want it to be done,” James Knight, Bonhams’s head of motoring, said in an interview. “The bespoke element is attractive. It’s like ordering a Savile Row suit.”

There were gasps in the auction room when the DB6 sold for more than five times its lower estimate of 20,000 pounds.

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