AT THE TIME OF THIS BOOK’S PUBLICATION IN EARLY 2020, DB5/2266/L was back in the States, still in the custodianship of Hamish Hamilton, soaking up the West Coast sunshine and basking in the attention it inevitably attracts wherever it goes. ‘You get such a great reaction, so many people want to talk. AND THERE’S NO DENYING, IT DOES MAKE YOU FEEL GREAT, ‘says Hamish. ‘It will stay there for the foreseeable future – I spend a few months a year out there, so it makes sense.

The other DB5 I’ll keep in the UK – that’s a great car, too, but so far I haven’t been able to uncover much of its history.’ A sad footnote to this tale is that long-time owner Wilford Day never got to see the finished car in the metal. ‘Unfortunately, Wilford died before it went back to the States, though I sent him photos and he was thrilled,’ says Hamish. ‘I’M JUST PLEASED TO HAVE PULLED SO MUCH OF ITS HISTORY TOGETHER.’ What is it about the Aston Martins of this period that gives them such enduring appeal? ‘I think as an Englishman who grew up in the north of England, there’s a romantic attachment to that time – it’s a very British thing, but also very European. It’s about time and place – that huge cultural explosion that happened in Britain in the ’60s. I guess I feel quite proud of my roots and that’s reflected in the DB5. ‘I LIKE THE FACT THAT IT’S CLASSIC, QUITE UNDERSTATED – certainly when you compare an Aston with, say, a Ferrari. Definitely the Sean Connery thing – the wellcut suit and so on. It’s quintessentially British. And for me the 5 was always the one.’ No question, Hamish has achieved what he set out to do with DB5/2266/L – not just to restore it, but to tell its story and that of its colourful owners, and to add a chapter or two of his own. ‘I’M NOT THE END OF THE STORY, THOUGH. It’s a bit like the Patek Philippe ads – you never own the watch, just pass it on to the next generation. The Aston’s a bit like that, and I have a feeling there are many more chapters to be written.’