Aston confirms Lagonda saloon...
...but it'll be invitation only and limited to customers in the Middle East
This morning Aston has announced it is to build a "strictly limited" Lagonda "luxury super saloon" that "champions exclusivity". And it's not, as you might first imagine, simply a restyled version of the latest Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but a completely bespoke product based on Aston's own long-standing bonded aluminium VH architecture.
We strongly suspect that this means it will be not just expensive, but genuinely gob-smackingly so. Adding fuel to that fire, Aston says "The new super saloon will be offered for sale by invitation only and, while precise pricing details remain confidential, the asking price will be commensurate with the car's exclusivity, quality and luxurious nature."
It will also only be available to customers in the Middle East "as a result of specific market demand". Which gives you a further clue.
The pictures you see here are all we've got at this stage, while the technical details are limited to the confirmed use of the VH architecture and carbonfibre body panels. The design is said to be directly influenced by the 1976-1989 William Towns Lagonda - which suggests plenty of straight lines and a huge amount of on-board technology. It will be hand-built at Aston Martin's factory in Gaydon.
Aston Martin's design director, Marek Reichman - who turns out to have been dropping some pretty heavy hints last week - describes the new Lagonda as "an exceptional piece of automotive art" and "the ultimate in luxury and personalisation". But then, he would do, wouldn't he?
Production of the new Aston Martin Lagonda saloon is set to start in early 2015.
All those skills and effort spend engineering. Used to make too hideous, too expensive cars for a group of rich oil sheiks.
And then maybe, similar to the chap in Brunei, will then never use then and leave them to rot. I am thinking here of all the one off Italian and British supercars that were bought, and never ever used.
I'm sure they'll sort out their game once Mercedes buys them properly (in the same way Bentley and Rolls Royce have been by VW and BMW respectively).
The main thing is that it is great to see the Lagonda brand coming back and I'm sure it will be a stunning beast that rivals the Wraith for Phantom money and if Rolls is going to have a rival then the fact it will be British is wonderful.
If any brand is going to succeed where Merc failed with Maybach then it has to be Lagonda? Just for starters the word is elegant whereas Maybach sounded like a tramp wretching up that morning's White Lightening. Plus, it looked like an S Class for the types of people who made their money through genocide and Western aid embezzlement.
But it'll still be a sporty(-ish) 4-door, V12 (presumably) Aston based on the "long-standing bonded aluminium VH architecture", so I think the Rapide comments/correlation is valid.
It physically can't be that different, nor do they have the budget for it.
Moreover,
I really hope Aston succeed, and I believe with the current brand cache, it would only take a moderately talented business leader to make it so.
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