Aston Martin Lagonda
The Aston Martin Lagonda was a luxury four-door saloon built by Aston Martin of Newport Pagnell, England, between 1976 and 1989.
Aston Martin was about to go out of business in the mid-1970s and needed something to bring in some much needed funds. Traditionally, Aston Martin had worked on 2+2 sports cars, but the Aston Martin Lagonda was a four-door saloon car with a brand new Aston Martin V8 engine. As soon as it was introduced, it received hundreds of deposits from potential customers, helping Aston Martin's chances.
The car was designed by William Towns in the classic 1970s "folded paper" style. It was as strange a design then as it is now. Car enthusiasts are fiercely divided on the car's æsthetic value.
A number of series were introduced, including a facelift in the 1980s which attempted to round off the car's jagged lines and removing the troublesome pop-up headlights, which had proved unreliable.
The Lagonda was the first production car in the world to use computer management and an instrument panel, although many original cars' computers are failure-prone.
Dimensions: 17.4 feet long, 5 feet wide
Variations of the AML series included:
- Rapide (a two-door, short wheelbase version)
- Tickford limousine