New Aston Martin DB5 is a kid's dream come true

By topgear, 28 August 2020

Millionaires often have the annual quandary of what to buy the kid who has everything, but Christmas just got a whole lot easier for Richie Rich with the announcement of a collaboration between Aston Martin and The Little Car Company.

What does it mean? Well, you can now buy a two-thirds scale electric version of the DB5 that if you squint a little bit could easily fool you for the real thing. 

The DB5 Junior is 3m long and 1.1m wide and designed to fit an adult and child alongside each other. An electric motor sends 5kW of power to the rear wheels and will propel the car to a 48kph (30mph) top speed. That’s quite fast when you’re 4, although do make sure they can reach the pedals before you let them loose – the DB5 Junior costs £35,000 before taxes, which roughly equates to a whopping RM193,450 - yikes!. If you can afford one in the UK, taxes are costs levied by the government on common everyday purchases and salaries.

The Little Car Company is committed to the detail – the steering wheel is an exact (but slightly smaller) replica and sits inside a full black leather interior that’s fitted with swanky carpets. The instruments on the dashboard have been made by the same company as the Sixties original (although you get a battery meter instead of a fuel gauge) and every car comes painted in the DB5’s iconic Silver Birch as standard.

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The double wishbone suspension up front and live axle at the rear are faithful reproductions of the original car, and the roll centre and camber gain match the original geometry. Don’t let the kids tell anyone that, though, they’ll probably get beaten up. Completing the DB5 look are 10in wire wheels.

You’ll get up to 32km (20 miles) of range from the removable battery that sits under the bonnet – enough for at least a couple of trips up and down the drive – a second battery can be fitted, and each is swappable in seconds. Regenerative braking will help maximise the driving fun. 

Three driving modes are available – Novice keeps the power low and makes sure that Junior and his DB5 Junior can’t get more than 30 metres away, while Expert unleashes the full almost seven horses of power from the motor. The third mode, Race, will peg the car’s performance with other Little Car Company models that might be nearby so that you can have a little competition and keep the playing field level. 

What’s that though? Still not enough power? Well, there’s just the thing for you – for £45,000 - or roughly RM248,721 – (plus those taxes) you can have the DB5 Vantage Junior, which boosts power to 10kW, adds the second battery as standard, fits an LSD for improved traction and boosts top speed to an as-yet unconfirmed figure. Phew. You don’t want the standard car’s 240kg holding you back, so the Vantage uses carbon fibre to keep the weight down.

Production on the pint-sized car starts in 2021, with just 1,059 DB5 Juniors set to be built, and every owner will get automatic membership of the Aston Martin Owners Club.