If you’ve still got a few quid of your furlough money kicking about how about spending it on this, the Aston Martin DB5 Junior? It’s a three-metre long replica of a DB5 convertible that’s powered by electricity, has up to 40 miles of range and costs a mere £42,000. Oh, or there’s a Vantage version that costs £54,000.
A collaboration between the Little Car Company – also responsible for the recent Bugatti Baby II – and Aston Martin, they’re going to knock up exactly 1059 of them. That’s exactly the number of actual DB5s that were made, and Aston will be calling all owners of an original first to see if they want one of these little ones. Those that do will get a version with a chassis number that matches their cars. Different world, isn’t it?
Built to “easily accommodate an adult and a child side-by-side”, the DB5 Junior is actually a quite serious bit of toy car. It’s built using an aluminium honeycomb chassis with a composite body bonded to it for a kerb weight of 270kg. That relative lightness means its 5kW (7bhp) electric motor, driving the rear wheels, gets the thing to a 30mph top speed.
If you haven’t already guessed this it’s not road-legal, but it is an astonishingly accurate facsimile of the DB5, with Aston Martin using a 3D scan of the original to match all the external parts. As Aston puts it:
“Absolute authenticity was key throughout the development of the vehicle. For example, the DB5 Junior sports the same iconic Aston Martin ‘wings’, ‘shield’ and DB5 badges as the original 1963 model. Like its big brother, the dashboard is filled with functional Smiths instruments, which have been cleverly updated for the modern era.
“The fuel gauge has been converted into a battery meter, while the oil temperature now monitors the motor temperature. Finally, the same Smiths clock as seen in the original 1960s car sits proudly in front of the passenger seat.
“A perfect two-thirds scale steering wheel sits in front of the dash, but now sports a racing-style quick release to make entry and exit easier for the driver. Power is regulated by billet aluminium accelerator and brake pedals, and as you would expect there are working headlights, brake lights, indicators and a horn.”
There are no paint options though, with each coming in the ‘Birch Silver’ colour made famous by the original and a full black leather interior. Each car also comes with 10-inch wire wheels, each housing ventilated disc brakes linked to an energy recapture system.
The battery is stored under the bonnet, which as standard gives the car up to 20 miles of range, and there’s space for an additional battery should the buyer have an especially long driveway up to their Bat Cave or whatever.
There are three driving modes, the first of which, called Novice, is designed for kids, restricting the drivetrain to 1.3bhp and a 12mph top speed. In that mode the car can be remotely disabled. Expert mode unleashes the full 7bhp might of the car. And then, believe it or not, there’s a Race mode, a setting that allows the drivetrain to be matched with other Little Car Company stuff – the Baby Bugatti, for example – so that owners can race each other fair and square.
Buyers of the Vantage version get a fourth mode, operated by a hidden ‘missile’ switch and which doubles the power to 14bhp. Top speed is “unconfirmed” in that mode, according to Aston, but the Vantage does get a mechanical limited slip differential to make sure all that brute power gets down to the tarmac properly.
They start making them in 2021, and if you want to order one you can do so here.
Keyword: Aston Martin makes £54k electric toy car shaped like a DB5