The Aston Martin DB5 has to be one of the cars of the most iconic film of all time. The DB5 was driven by Sean Connery that featured in Goldfinger & Thunderball back in the ’60s was stolen nearly a quarter of a century ago.

The theft took place on June 19, 1997, from a private hangar at Boca Raton Airport in Florida. Its mysterious disappearance is now being documented in a podcast series “The Great James Bond Car Robbery”, that features actress, Liz Hurley.

The Telegraph from the U.K. has reported that a DB5 spotted in the Middle East, supposedly has a matching VIN number to that of the stolen car. The stolen DB5 is believed to be part of the private car collection of more than 4000 cars in the Gulf, most likely Dubai.

Christopher A Marinello, the CEO of Art Recovery International has been looking for the stolen car for the better part of a decade, and he describes it as his White Whale.

The price of the stolen car is estimated to be around $25 million. Some of the equipment on the car included tire shredders, machine guns, ejector seats, water, and smoke distributors, along with a bulletproof shield.

The stolen example in question was originally bought by American Businessman & Real Estate Developer Anthony Pugliese in 1986 for $275,000. The car was one of four DB5ss, that featured in the 007 films. In fact, the DB5 that was stolen was the only example that featured working gadgets.

Aston Martin DB5 specifications