1984 Aston Martin V-8 Lagonda

Aston Martin's revival of the Lagonda name in the mid-1970s was applied to a stretched, four-door, eight-cylinder, luxury sedan that was previewed in 1976 at the London Motor Show. It was clothed in 'razor edge' bodywork courtesy of William Towns and rested on the same long-wheelbase chassis as its immediate predecessor. Production commenced near the close of 1978 with approximately one car being built per week at the Newport Pagnell factory.

The front-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicle employed a well-proven 5.3-liter, four-cam carbureted V8 engine coupled to a Chrysler three-speed 'TorqueFlite' automatic transmission. The engine used a quartet of twin-choke Weber 42DCNF carburetors to help deliver 280 horsepower at 5,000 RPM with 320 lb-ft of torque available lower down the range. The wheelbase measured 115-inches, a length of 208-inches, and a width of 71.5-inches. Weighing two tones, the Lagonda was an imposing sight from any angle, yet despite its size and overwhelming proportions, was capable of racing to sixty mph in 7.9 seconds and had a top speed of 145 mph.

Seven examples were Series 1 cars built between 1974 and 1975. These were a four-door, long-wheelbase version of the Aston Martin V8, were based on the DBS, and wore a design by William Towns. The wedge-shaped Series 2 Lagonda V8 saloon was launched in 1976 and was a total contrast to the 1974 model, sharing little but the engine. Early examples had a digital LCD dashboard and touch button controls, but these were quickly abandoned. The exterior had the 'folded paper' wedge shape design that was popular during the 1970s, along with pop-up headlights, and powered by a 5.3-liter DOHC V8 engine. Sales of the Series II in the United States began in 1982 after receiving minor regulatory amendments to the front bumper and airdam.

Series II cars were built from 1976 through 1985. The Series 3 car production was much shorter lasting from 1986 through 1987 with 75 examples built. All were equipped with a fuel injection system, and the cathode ray tube instrumentation was later replaced by a vacuum fluorescent display system. The exterior styling was the same as the Series 2.

The final iteration of the Lagonda was the Series 4 variant built from 1987 through 1990. Designer William Towns applied extensive styling revisions with the dramatically sharp edges becoming smoother and rounded off, and the previous pop-up headlights gave way to three fixed headlights located on each side of the grille. The side swage line was removed resulting in a clean and undisturbed bodyside. Mounted at all four corners were 16-inch wheels. Production continued through January of 1990 with a total of 105 examples built.

During its production lifespan, approximately 645 examples of the hand-built luxury vehicle were built.

by Daniel Vaughan | Aug 2021