The vintage Aston Martin stolen from Sean Connery‘s 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger has been found nearly 25 years later.
The Aston Martin DB5 which was made popular by Connery’s role is estimated to be worth around $25 million USD (£18.5 million GBP). The vehicle was reportedly purchased by a private collector in the mid-1980s but it was later stolen from a secure airport hangar in Florida in 1997. The Telegraph reported that the long-missing DB5 was found by Art Recovery International, which is a group that specializes in hunting down lost or stolen luxury items. An anonymous individual was able to verify the vehicle via its serial number, thus confirming that it is the stolen vehicle from the ’80s.
While the exact location of where the DB5 was found has not been revealed, however, the report indicated that it was in a “private setting” in the Middle East. Dubai, Kuwait, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were listed as “particular areas of interest.” Art Recovery International’s Christopher Marinello told The Telegraph,
“I’m hopeful that the possessor will come forward voluntarily before I have to make an announcement. It’s my policy to give possessors of stolen and looted objects every opportunity to do the right thing. I don’t believe the current possessor knew the car was stolen when he or she acquired it. Now they do know, I think they should make every effort to have a discreet confidential discussion about how we clear the title to this iconic vehicle.”
At the time when the car was initially reported stolen, longtime car collector and American businessman Anthony Pugliese was the owner. He originally purchased the vehicle for $275,000 USD at Sotheby’s New York in 1986. After it was stolen the insurance company paid him $4.2 million USD and offered $100,000 USD as a reward for information about the stolen car. The Aston Martin DB5 has been a staple to the James Bond franchise. Once popularized by Sean Connery, who reigned as the titular character between 1962-1967 and again in 1971 and 1983, the film subsequently after kept the DB5 as a major motif in the story.
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