New pictures provide clearest view yet of new Aston Martin Lagonda super saloon due on sale in 2015
The chiselled black form slicing through the baron beauty of the Omani desert in these pictures is Aston Martin’s new Lagonda saloon.
A super-exclusive, luxury flagship destined for sale in strictly limited numbers exclusively to Middle Eastern buyers, the new Aston Martin Lagonda will arrive in 2015 with a price tag reportedly in excess of £400,000.
Aston plans to hand-build just 100 of these cars then sell them to a select group of Middle Eastern customers on an invitation-only basis. It’s fitting then, that the first pictures we saw of the undisguised car showed it strapped to an airfreight pallet arriving in the region it will eventually call home for hot weather testing.
Now Aston Martin has released a full set of images showing that hot weather testing taking place in Oman. The version pictured is an 'engineering car' but its bodywork leaves little to the imagination and, in any case, we’ll see the full production Lagonda very soon - possibly at the Paris Motor Show in October.
Technical details on the Lagonda are sketchy but it's expected that a 565bhp+ version of Aston's thunderous 5.9-litre V12 takes pride of place and there's certainly room for it under that expansive bonnet.
Drive is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission and performance should be worthy of the Aston Martin brand. Expect a top speed close to 200mph and 0-62mph pace around the 5-second mark.
The new Aston Martin Lagonda will be based on the VH paltform that underpins all current Aston Martins but, as we can see, its angular styling sets it apart from the manufacturer’s other current models. The car also features a stretched wheelbase to produce the rear leg room that’s essential for a top-end luxury saloon.
Developed by Aston’s design chief Marek Reichmann, the car's exterior styling borrows heavily from the 1976 Lagonda’s iconic wedge-shape, as well as featuring more modern touches that reference the Rapide. As we reported when the new Lagonda was first spied back in May, the sharply sculpted boot, roofline and flanks also provide further nods to the William Towns-designed original.
Like its 1976 predecessor, which pioneered the use of LED instrumentation in its interior, the new Lagonda will employ cutting edge car design tech including carbon fibre bodywork.
Each Lagonda will be hand-built at the firm's Gaydon factory using the same facilities that previously produced the One-77 and under the auspices of the 'Q by Aston Martin' special projects division responsible for the CC100 roadster.
Aston Martin Lagonda: the history
Lagonda was founded in 1906 and bought by Aston Martin in 1947 when renowned boss David Brown was at the helm. It's operated in fits and starts ever since with the DB4-based Lagonda Rapide saloon arriving 1964 and a series of Aston Martin V8 based four-doors built between 1974 and 1976.
The best known Aston Martin Lagonda was William Towns' squared-off saloon of 1976, although Aston did build a very limited run of Virage-based Lagonda cars in the early 1990s. It remains unclear if the new car will be badged as an Aston Martin Lagonda or simply as a Lagonda.
What do you think of the new Aston Martin Lagonda? Would you prefer one over a Rolls-Royce Phantom or a Bentley Mulsanne? Let us know in the comments section below…
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