Aston Martin Lagonda

The most unconventional

In 1973, David Brown was forced to sell Aston Martin, reportedly for £100. The new owners, a consortium of businessmen from Birmingham with the imaginative name Company Developments, initially wanted to keep Brown on as a board member, but then decided to remove all traces of Brown as quickly as possible, renaming the DBS the V8. However, the gentlemen from Birmingham did not have a lucky hand, and by 1974 they had run out of money. On 30 December 1974, a receiver had to be appointed. It was not until mid-1975 that salvation came in the form of Peter Sprague, an American management consultant, and Canadian George Minden, a hotel owner and Rolls-Royce dealer. Minden had a very specific problem: he had purchased six V8s shortly before the bankruptcy. He knew that he would not be able to sell them if Aston Martin disappeared from the scene. Sprague was able to convince him relatively easily to join his rescue project; although he had earned a lot of money restructuring companies, National Semiconductors in particular had made him rich, but he admitted himself that he knew nothing about cars. Sprague, then 37, had obtained a credit line of $600,000 from the Bank of America, but he didn’t need it: he paid £170,000 out of his own pocket for Aston Martin, including the name rights and the factory. (Below: the prototype of the Series 1 – as you can easily see, it looked very different back then. Photos: Frédéric Diserens. We also have a story about this here.)

It was probably Sprague and Minden who actually got the Aston Martin Lagonda off the ground. They knew the American market well – and they were certain that a saloon car would have more potential than the sporty coupés for which Aston Martin was known at the time. They also recognised that there was good money to be made in the Middle East with unusual vehicles. They provided £75,000 (!) to develop a completely new vehicle; at least the engine was already available (and was used again in 1976 for a final four-door DBS/V8). Mike Loasby was appointed project manager, and the design was naturally entrusted to William Towns (who was not permanently employed, but worked on a contract basis). Towns’ brief was clear: the new vehicle was not to bear any visual resemblance to previous Aston Martins – and it was to make it clear that Aston Martin was anything but incapable of action. In other words, it had to be spectacular. (Below: a Series 2, once photographed when we were making a book I no longer want anything to do with. Photos: as above.)

In the late 1960s, Italian designer Marcello Gandini had established a new design language in automotive design with the Lamborghini Marzal (1967), Alfa Romeo Carabo (1968) and, above all, the Lancia Stratos Zero concept cars, which was then transferred to series production for the first time in the Lamborghini Countach (1971): the wedge shape. This made sense for sports cars, as a high rear end with a spoiler lip acted like a spoiler and provided sufficient downforce for the increasingly powerful and faster vehicles. These early wedge shapes were used exclusively on mid-engined sports cars; it was not until Giorgio Giugiaro’s Alfetta GT (1974) that the principle was used for the first time on a front-engined vehicle. Towns was then the first designer to try the wedge shape on a luxury saloon. It is said that he created his first draft within a month, a 1:4 scale clay model was produced in January 1976, and a 1:1 model made of wood was produced in March. (Below: Series 2, #13196, a test vehicle from the Aston Martin Lagonda Engineering Department, was repeatedly rebuilt. Photos: Bonhams.)

However, it is also important to consider the competition in the luxury saloon market in the mid-1970s. There were the Americans, Cadillac and Lincoln, infinitely large (a Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham measured an impressive 5.86 metres in 1976), but also rather weak due to the oil crisis and new emissions laws (this Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham had an 8.2-litre V8 in 1976 and produced just under 200 hp); there was more chrome and less design than ever before. The Americans were worse than ever before (except in the years that were yet to come), but sales figures were enormous, with Cadillac selling more than 270,000 vehicles in 1976. There was also Maserati with the Quattroporte II (1974 to 1978), of which 13 were produced, and the significantly more successful Quattroporte III (from 1979, approx. 2,100 units), and of course Rolls-Royce with the Silver Shadow, which was already outdated before series production began. And somehow Mercedes too, with the technologically interesting but otherwise terribly boring S-Class (W116, from 1972). However, 1975 and 1976 were also extremely exciting years for the British automotive industry, with Jaguar launching the XJ-S, Rolls-Royce the Camargue and Aston Martin the Lagonda. (Below: Series 2, #13086, photos: Bonhams.)

Whatever you want to call the Lagonda’s design – William Towns liked to refer to it as ‘folded paper’ – it was exactly what Aston Martin’s new owners wanted: anything but ordinary. With a length of 5.1 metres, a width of 1.82 metres and a height of just 1.3 metres, the Lagonda was already the flattest four-door car of its time during the design phase. The wedge shape had some practical disadvantages, such as engine ventilation, and it also required (unsightly) pop-up headlights (there were only six small lights above the bumper for indicators, parking lights and fog lights). The rear lights were also not particularly suitable for everyday use; the four narrow strips were integrated into the tailgate, which meant that the British authorities ordered that lights also had to be fitted on the inside of the boot lid. In fact, many details of Towns’ design were not finished; initially, neither the front nor the rear side windows could be opened. For the start of series production, the front doors were redesigned so that the windows could be lowered; at the rear, they remained fixed. The glass roof over the rear seats, known as the ‘moon roof’, could neither be raised nor slid open, as the roll bar integrated into the roof was in the way. The door handles came from the Ford Cortina. (Below: Series 2, #13163, photos: RM Sotheby’s.)

The new Lagonda was unveiled to the public for the first time on 12 October 1976 at The Bell Inn in Aston Clinton, Birminghamshire. At the London Motor Show later that month, the vehicle was the absolute star – no one had expected it, and its shape caused more than just a stir. It is said that around 200 orders were placed at the exhibition for a vehicle that was priced at £20,000. Aston Martin boldly promised that the first vehicles would be delivered the following year. However, they underestimated their own resources – and the complexity of the project. The Lagonda was essentially a blank sheet of paper. It quickly became apparent that virtually nothing from the previous models would fit, so a new platform had to be designed, partly because the V8 platform was far too expensive to manufacture. A steel frame was then welded onto this new chassis – which was available with a longer and shorter wheelbase in the initial phase, although the short version was never built – which in turn supported the aluminium body. Loasby knew from the outset, for example, that a vehicle with a boot and sufficient space for rear passengers would definitely need automatic level control – a first for an Aston Martin. The chassis was completely redesigned, and Loasby later said that he was heavily inspired by the more comfortable Jaguar, even the wheels were the same (Avon 235/70 HR 15). The steering, which was also new, came from Adwest. (Below: Series 2, #13222, photos: RM Sotheby’s.)

The only parts that could be carried over from the V8 were the differential, the automatic transmission (the usual 3-speed Torqueflite from Chrysler) and certain parts of the engine. However, the 5.3-litre V8 also had to be completely reworked for the Lagonda, as the extremely low bonnet required the engine to be mounted much further back than in the V8, and a significantly smaller air box had to be used. Less air, less power: 280 hp remained. But it got worse: because American regulations required a locked torque converter, the torque curve had to be shifted down by 500 rpm – which was only possible with significantly larger intake valves (2.1 inches) and new camshaft profiles. The locked-up automatic transmission was not introduced in the USA after all, but the extensive modifications to the drive helped the Lagonda achieve reasonably respectable performance, with a final drive ratio of 3.31:1 enabling it to reach a top speed of over 230 km/h. It is also said to have accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 8.8 seconds, but that seems rather optimistic today. An interesting fact in this context is that while the first vehicles were said to weigh 3800 pounds (1633 kilograms), the first production models weighed well over two tonnes. (Below: Series 2, #13316, photos: RM Sotheby’s.)

While only seven months had passed between Towns’ initial sketches and the vehicle’s presentation at the London Motor Show, it took considerably longer to start series production. This was neither due to the chassis nor the drive system, which Loasby had everything under control. The problem was, once again, the electronics. In order to do justice to the futuristic design in the interior, it was decided to use completely digital instrumentation, with essential information such as speed and revs displayed on a gas plasma screen. In addition, most functions such as lights and windscreen wipers were to be operated via sensor buttons; initially, the idea was that the automatic transmission would also be controlled by such buttons. The Cranfield Institute of Technology developed the first software, but it was so error-prone that there were more total failures than test drives; the first prototypes were therefore hastily converted back to analogue instruments in 1977. It was not until September 1977 that Aston Martin pulled the plug and commissioned Javelina Corporation in Dallas, a company specialising in computer technology for civil and military aircraft, to completely reset the system. The Americans needed six months to implement the new system, discarding various functions and replacing the gas plasma displays with light-emitting diodes. Nevertheless, around 40 functions remained that could be operated via sensors, including, for the first time, electric seat adjustment with a memory function. And even though all this electronics was to cause a lot of trouble for the Lagonda, it was a milestone in automotive history. Other manufacturers were only able to offer something similar decades later. But Loasby hit the nail on the head with his self-deprecating statement: ‘Electronics delayed production a little.’ (Below: Series 2, #13353, photo: RM Sotheby’s.)

The first production vehicle was then delivered on 24 April 1978 to a certain Lady Tavistock. The press was there, but no one noticed that the car had to be pushed onto the stage because the electronics had failed. The first photo and film shoots were also a little special: to give the impression that the Lagonda was actually driving, it was pulled along on a rope. However, in the course of 1978, Aston Martin managed to get the various problems under control to some extent – and instead of the £20,000 announced in 1976, it now demanded £24,570. A price that was simply doubled to £49,933 by the end of 1979. However, this did not seem to bother potential customers, and the Lagonda sold very well, especially in the Middle East. So well, in fact, that Aston Martin actually drove itself out of crisis – between 1978 and January 1986, 462 units of the so-called Series 2 were sold. Early (original) vehicles are best recognised by their rims with aluminium covers; from 1983 onwards, BBS alloy wheels were standard. Inside, they are easiest to recognise by the steering wheel with only one spoke. At the front, the Lagonda was recognisable by a wide chrome grille that extended into the bonnet and characterised the six-eyed front. The outer lights housed the indicators and parking lights, while the two inner lights were used as high beams or fog lights. However, this set of lights, which was actually bright enough, was mounted too low to meet the legal minimum height requirements. For this reason, pop-up headlights with additional double lights were installed in the bonnet. The Lagonda thus illuminated the road with a total of ten lamps, although most countries prohibited the simultaneous use of all lights. The tailgate opened to reveal the integrated flat rear lights. However, the authorities required that the rear lighting also be guaranteed when the tailgate was open, so additional lights had to be mounted on the underside of the boot lid. (Below: Series 3, #13341, photos: Bonhams.)

The interior was, of course, also very unusual. Everything that was good and expensive found its way into the Lagonda: multi-adjustable electric seats with memory function, adjustable pedals, stereo system, air conditioning, cruise control, Connolly leather, fine woods and deep carpets. But the real highlight was the cockpit; the official press release spoke of ‘groundbreaking innovations as a result of space-age technology’. For this reason alone, conventional instruments were out of the question; electronics had to play the leading role. Speed and revs were displayed on gas plasma screens housed in a box-shaped unit. Instead of the usual push buttons, sensor fields were installed that were designed to respond to body heat and were located on a kind of command centre flat in front of the driver. Gear changes were not to be made using a conventional automatic selector lever, but also via sensor buttons. However, the software calibration repeatedly led to malfunctions or failures during the test phase, so a few modifications were made at short notice before series production began. The automatic transmission controls were replaced by a conventional lever, and the plasma screens, which were not yet fully developed, had to make way for red LED displays. However, the sensor buttons for almost all other functions were retained. The only mechanical display, the odometer, was located under the bonnet, out of sight. The countless switches distributed around the astonishingly small single-spoke steering wheel and even in the doors required intensive reading of the operating instructions. And even then, it is said to have happened that the driver accidentally switched off the headlights with an unintended movement. ‘In terms of user-friendliness, the control panel is not yet the last word,’ was how the Swiss magazine “Automobil Revue” put it. (Below: Series 3, photos: Frédéric Diserens.)

The Lagonda Series 3 refers to the evolution from the 1986 model year onwards, which was, however, hardly distinguishable from the Series 2 because it was at least identical in appearance. The decisive innovation was petrol injection: a collaboration between Weber and Marelli, which was intended to reduce fuel consumption and meet the increasingly stringent global emissions standards. Another innovation was the head-up display (HUD), which projected important information onto the windscreen, replacing LED displays with cathode ray tubes – which, however, proved to be even less reliable. The Series 3 is considered particularly desirable by some Lagonda fans because only 75 were built. (Below: A Lagonda interpretation by Tickford. David Brown took over the long-established company, founded in 1820, in 1955, where he subsequently developed ‘sporty’ variants that were not always successful.)

It took ten years for the facelift to arrive (at last?). For the 1987 model year, the side mouldings and chrome inserts in the lower section of the sills and bumpers were smoothed out. All edges were given a gentler contour, the rear lights were removed from the boot lid and the number plate was moved to the bumper. The biggest changes were at the front. The front was raised slightly and the bonnet was no longer so steeply sloping. Thanks to this modification, the six front lights now complied with regulations, and the pop-up headlights were dispensed with – much to the dismay of many regular customers. There were also a few modifications to the interior, with vacuum fluorescent displays, also known as Digitron displays, replacing the cathode ray tubes. A voice computer spoke English, French, German or Arabic to the occupants. Although the Lagonda Series 4 was certainly the most mature of the three versions, the facelift meant that it lost some of the consistency and originality of the Series 2 and 3. Only 105 examples of the fourth series were built. (Below: Series 4, #13623, photos: RM Sotheby’s)

There is a list of ancestors of the ‘real’ Lagonda here. A test drive report of the only Lagonda Shooting Break can be found here. Everything else: Archive. (Perhaps we will also create a collection.)