After Three Years Restoring a Rusty $29,000 Used Car... It Turned Out to Be a $1.9 Million Aston Martin

British Man in His 70s Personally Restores Used Aston Martin
Bought for 29 Million Won, Now Valued at Approximately 1.9 Billion Won

A man in the United Kingdom has successfully restored a worn-out Aston Martin DB5 to look like new. This vehicle is an extremely rare model, with only 39 units existing worldwide, and it gained fame for appearing in the James Bond 007 film series. The value of the DB5 owned by this man is estimated at 1 million pounds (approximately 1.9 billion won).

Recently, the BBC in the UK reported the story of John Williams, a man in his seventies living in Flintshire, Wales. Williams purchased a used Aston Martin DB5 in 1973 for 985 pounds (equivalent to 15,000 pounds or about 29 million won today). This vehicle attracted attention at the time for appearing in the then-popular 007 film "Goldfinger."

Before and after images of the Aston Martin DB5 owned by John Williams. Photo by BBC

Williams, who had been an Aston Martin fan since childhood, gradually saved money and bought the DB5 at the age of 19. However, after securing a job in the Middle East, the car’s exterior quickly deteriorated. The hot and dry climate in the Middle East caused the paint to peel, and neighborhood children playing on the hood turned it into a wreck.

Eventually, the car became so damaged that it was no longer drivable, but it was still considered highly valuable among collectors. Even in its junk condition, its estimated value was 500,000 pounds (about 900 million won), since only 1,022 DB5s were produced between 1963 and 1965, and Williams’s car is a vintage model, with only 39 such units remaining worldwide.

Williams decided to restore the car himself. He spent 2,500 hours-three years-removing rust and replacing parts, raising its appraised value to 1 million pounds. Steve Waddingham, an Aston Martin expert, told the BBC, “It would have been easier to build a new car,” adding, “The corrosion was extremely severe. Restoring the car must have required tremendous skill and patience.”

Williams expressed his satisfaction, saying, “I think it’s better now than when it first rolled out of the factory,” and added, “This car makes me feel like I’m 27 again.”