Words: Rory FH Smith
For decades the name ‘Lagonda’ has been the Voldermort of the motoring world; Aston Martin’s ugly ducking of the 1970s that it whispered the name of only very occasionally and always under duress. After a failed attempt to revive the name in 2009 with a clumsy SUV concept, Aston Martin has seemingly produced a highly polished and elegant product in the form of its latest Lagonda super-saloon.
First revealed to the world during hot weather testing in Oman and now exposed in all it’s production-ready glory, the car’s design gives a substantial nod to the previous William Towers-designed Lagonda with wedge-shaped styling, elongated bonnet and crisp, linear lines. At the front, Aston design chief Marek Reichman has taken a fresh approach to the classic Aston Martin grille by drawing it out to encompass the aggressive, slimline headlights. The Lagonda’s high and razor sharp waistline rises gradually to meet the substantial rear pillar, while the rear is more in line with the rounded rump of the Rapide S.
Under the Lagonda’s vast bonnet lies a 6.0-litre V12 mounted in an aluminium frame while some of the surrounding bodywork is made of the all-important carbon fibre – a regular feature in the premium motor market. With regard to its performance, expect in excess of 550bhp and a top speed of close to 200mph with a 0-60mph around the 5sec mark. Each Lagonda will be hand built in the same facility as the ultra-rare One-77 by Aston’s special projects division ‘Q by Aston Martin’.
Whet your appetite, gentlemen? Well you’d better start calming yourself down as Aston plans on building just 100 of these cars exclusively for the Middle Eastern market. Reportedly commanding around a half a million pound price tag when it arrives in 2015, Europe, China and America won’t even get a look in but that’s not to say Aston wouldn’t consider other markets in the future, reveals a company spokeswoman. Fingers crossed, gentlemen – for now, this one’s purely for the wish list.
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