Launched in 1963, the Aston Martin DB5 represented the pinnacle of British automotive design.

With a classic-yet-modern shape that hid a deceptively muscular stance, the sharply dressed grand tourer combined spirited performance with elegant superleggera coachwork in a way that came to define the David Brown era.

Already a hit with well-heeled buyers, the DB5 became the stuff of legend with the wider public when the Silver Birch-cloaked lines of James Bond’s iconic machine first appeared on screen in the spy thriller, Goldfinger .

Newport Pagnell’s premier grand tourer would remain etched in the minds of subsequent generations of both movie-goers and car enthusiasts.

But while 007 made do with the tin-top version—produced in their many hundreds between 1963 and 1965—the more exclusive offering remained the DB5 Convertible, of which just 123 were created.

Of those, just 39 left the United Kingdom specified in left-hand drive destined for the export market.

As elegant as it was rar...