C271/1 Koepelbeurs/Nationaal Automobielmuseum (1990)

This special promotional "Het National Automobielmuseum Raamsdonksveer Holland" is finished in silver and red - harder issue to find.

Blue and yellow window box with correct flash sticker to top.

25 years passed without Corgi or Eon ever utilizing the James Bond Aston Martin for promotional purposes. Only in 1990 the first DB5 promo model was realized for “Koepelbeurs” which seems to be an annual toy show or swapmeet which was held at the Dutch National Automobile Museum in Raamsdonksveer (in 2010 the museum was relocated to The Hague and reopened as the Louwman Museum).
Koepelsbeurs had several 1/43 models with similar graphics produced over the years, with cars sourced from Solido, (Matchbox-)Dinky or Vitesse (some can be found on the bay). But naturally the choice for 1990 was Corgi's 1/36 James Bond Aston Martin as the museum had acquired one of the real cars earlier that year. The other Koepelsbeurs promos do not have a direct connection to museum exhibits (e.g. a Toyota Picnic), so it has to be clarified that the promos were not made to promote the museum itself but just the toy show.
While not one of the two cars seen in Goldfinger and Thunderball, the car in the Nationaal Automobielmuseum was one of the two cars outfitted with replica gadgets by Aston Martin in the mid-60's for Eon promotional use. In 1969 the two cars were sold off by Eon for incredibly low £1,500 (for both!); at the time a new DB6 was about £5,500 ...
The car is still on display and advertised (with a bit of hyperbole) as “the original DB5 that secret agent James Bond was given by the engineer 'Q' to carry out his mission in the film 'Goldfinger'.”
http://www.louwmanmuseum.nl/asp/appmain … ollsq=5358

Comes in the standard blue Corgi box with C271/1 Aston Martin imprint and the Eon copyright paper slip that was included with every Corgi James Bond Aston Martin from 1984 to about 1992 or '93. This is truly one of the last Corgi Aston Martins produced in Great Britain as production was shifted to China sometime between late 1990 and early 1991, after Mattel had acquired Corgi Toys Ltd. in December 1989.
A Vectis auction shows a box “with correct flash sticker to top” though this isn't clearly shown. It could be either one of the two logos printed on the boot or roof panel. My box does not have this sticker, as does the one from another Vectis auction. Unfortunately just this part of the box is obscured by an inset photo in Dave Worrall's book.

The graphics are tampo-printed. The roof panel carries the logo of Modelauto which is a Dutch model car magazine (probably the organiser of the toy show). On the boot is a small logo of a vintage car, I guess the museum's former logo.

As there are other Koepelbeurs promotionals with similar graphics I have to assume that this DB5 is a code 3, a model altered without the participation of the company that had made the base car. Many brand-oriented collectors (e.g. collecting only Matchbox or Corgi or Dinky etc.) don't consider code 3's as collectible as they are not finished as intended by the original producer – but with the history linking this with one of the real promotional cars, I have included it in my collection although I normally don't collect code 3's.
I have no idea how many were produced and would be happy to read any additional information about the model or Koepelbeurs. The model was also shown with other James Bond DB5's on the title page of Modelauto's Sept/Oct 1990 issue which could provide more info.