THE oldest-surviving example of 007 James Bond's favourite car went under the hammer at the weekend.

The 81-year-old Aston Martin, which had found a home with an unnamed owner on Teesside for many years, fetched £32,000 at a sale of classic cars.

Auctioneer company Bonhams, which hosted the sale at Aston Martin's factory in Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, expected the 11hp sports prototype to inspire plenty of interest.

The vehicle, built in 1921, used to belong to motoring journalist Captain John Charles Douglas.

He bought it in 1923 and once drove it at speeds of up to 90mph at the Brooklands circuit. It was sold later in that year and had many owners before eventually arriving on Teesside, where it remained for many years.

Experts say it has largely remained out of the public eye and its only notable public appearance since the 1920s was at the Silverstone Jubilee Display in 1995.

Other lots of interest at the sale included the opportunity to buy a private viewing of the new James Bond film, Die Another Day, for up to 70 people.

Bond, played by Pierce Brosnan, is reunited with an Aston Martin in the film - a V12 Vanquish model.

007 first drove an Aston Martin in the film Goldfinger, in 1965, when he was played by Sean Connery.