Aston Martin Lagonda
- Production Dates: 1974 – 1989/90
The william Towns Lagonda shocked the world with its bold design and electronic instrumentation. A truly stunning design.
It was in the October of 1976 that Aston Martin revealed a new shape Lagonda which had solid state digital instrumentation that justified it as being a new product. With initial production levels at one a week it wasn’t until 1979 that the first cars was delivered. It wasn’t until 1982 that the Lagonda was cleared for sale in the USA.
In 1984, a Long Wheelbase Tickford Limousine version was announced that had a TV in the front as well as the back.
The Aston Martin Lagonda was updated again in 1987 when William Towns rounded off the edges of the car giving it a fresh new look. New enhancements included a re-designed nose where six smaller lights replace the pop-up headlamps and new 16″ alloy wheels. A total of 645 chassis were built before the end of production in 1989, each car required about 2,200 man-hours and only about 25 were built per year for the U.S. market.
Specification
- Price New: £ 24,570 (May 1977), £ 37,500 (April 1979), £ 79,500 (January 1986)
- Engine: dohc V-8, 280 bhp @ 5000 rpm, torque 360 lbs-ft @ 3000 rpm
- Transmission: 3-speed automatic
- Suspension:
Front: unequal-length wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar
Rear: de Dion axle, coil springs; self-leveling - Brakes: Servo assisted front/rear ventilated discs
- Wheelbase: 9’6″ (2916 mm)
- Length: 17’4″ (5283 mm)
- Width: 5’12” (1816 mm)
- Weight: 2064 kg (3800 mm)
- Heigth: 4’4″ (1302 mm)
- Top Speed: 148 mph
- 0-60 mph: 7.9 sec.
- Production: 645
Designed by William Towns, October 1976 saw Aston Martin reveal a striking new model, a new 4 door Lagonda with innovative solid state digital instrumentation, a futuristic concept at the time. Lagonda created a wave of publicity for the company and the order book filled rapidly, particularly from the Middle East market.
With initial production levels at one a week it wasn’t until 1979 that the first car was delivered. In 1982 Lagonda was finally cleared for sale in the USA. In 1984, a Long Wheelbase Tickford Limousine version was announced with a TV in the front and rear.
The Aston Martin Lagonda was updated again in 1987 when William Towns rounded off the edges of the car giving it a fresh new look. Enhancements included a re-designed nose where six smaller lights replace the pop-up headlamps and new 16” alloy wheels. A total of 645 chassis were built before the end of production in 1989. Each car required 2,200 man-hours to build and only about 25 were built per year for the U.S. market.
The ‘Tickford Lagonda’ made its debut in 1983 produced by the in-house coachbuilding subsidiary. These special cars reflected the styling trends of the early 1980s, featuring flared body panels and full colour coding. Inside the already sumptuous interior were cocktail cabinets, upgraded hi-fi equipment, colour TV’s and a video player. Customers could also choose an extended wheelbase ‘limousine’.
