In the mid-1970s, the Lagonda name was resurrected and applied to a four-door Aston Martin V8 sedan. Production would continue from 1974 to 1990 with 645 examples being produced. The name 'Lagonda' was derived from the company that David Brown and Aston Martin had acquired in 1947.
The four-door saloon bodystyle was a departure from the company's traditional 2+2 sports coupes, but it was hoped to provide necessary financial income for the struggling company. Upon its introduction, it received hundreds of deposits from potential customer, helping cash reserves.
Seven examples of the Series 1 were produced before the Lagonda was re-designed from the ground up in 1976 by Williams Towns, using the classic 1970s 'folded paper' design style. Again, this was another radical and unconventional departure for Aston Martin. Along with its unique styling it was given a premium leather interior, and advanced instrumentation for its era (the first production car to use a digital instrument panel). The instrumentation initially used light-emitting diode (LED) display, but was changed in Series 3 cars to use cathode ray tubes. These were later replaced by a vacuum fluorescent display in similar fashion to some Opels and Vauxhalls. The development cost for the electronics was expensive, and was nearly four times as much as the entire budget for the whole car. Although the instrumentation was technologically advanced, it was often plagued with reliability issues.
The four-cam carbureted V8 engine was backed by a Chrysler three-speed 'TorqueFlite' automatic transmission. The 5.3 liter V8, dual overhead cam unit offered 280 horsepower and 301 lb-ft of torque. Top speed was in the neighborhood of 150 mph and zero-to-sixty mph was accomplished in 6.2 seconds. Despite its impressive performance, it offered single digit fuel economy, and the fuel-injection system in the Series 3 model offered little improvement.
The hand-built Lagonda was among the most expensive luxury saloons in the world.
The Series 1 cars had a wheelbase of 114.6 inches and a length of 194 inches. The wedge shaped Series 2, 3, and 4 cars measured 114.8 inches for the wheelbase and had a length of 207.9 inches. The Series 3 had the fuel injected engine and the upgraded instrumentation. They were built from 1986 through 1987 with a total of 75 examples built. The Series 4 were unveiled in March of 1987 at the Geneva Motor Show and were given updated styling by William Towns. The sharp edges were rounded off and pop-up headlights were replaced with a triple headlights on each side of the grille. They rode on 16 inch wheels and were devoid of the side 'character or swage' line. By the time production came to a close in January of 1990, a total of 105 Series 4 cars were manufactured.
by Dan Vaughan