Aston Martin looks set to revive Lagonda as a standalone brand for ultra-luxurious cars rivaling offerings from Bentley, Mercedes-Maybach and Rolls-Royce.
The information was confirmed to Motoring by Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer. It’s still early days but Palmer said Lagonda will initially offer two cars. One will be a sedan but the other might turn out to be a crossover SUV.
They’re part of Aston Martin’s Second Century plan which calls for seven cars in seven years. The plan started with the launch of the DB11 and will continue with a redesigned Vantage and Vanquish, a new SUV and mid-engine supercar for Aston Martin, and the two Lagondas.
Palmer revealed that the Lagondas will feature in-house developed platforms but will share some parts with Aston Martin’s lineup. The cars are still at the design stage and yet to be signed off; the mission for Aston Martin design boss Marek Reichman is to come up with the “finest of fastest cars.” In his interview with Motoring, Palmer explained that he wants to build the “Concorde” of cars.
Lagonda logo
Lagonda is a historic British brand older than even Aston Martin. It started off life as a maker of some sporty but not-so-exciting cars but things changed in the 1930s when none other than W. O. Bentley joined the ranks. It was at this point Lagonda churned out some truly luxurious machines like the LG6 and V12 models.
During World War II, Lagonda helped with the military effort, and in 1947 the brand was taken over by David Brown who had bought Aston Martin that same year. By the 1960s, Lagonda had almost been forgotten but in ’61 Aston Martin rolled out a DB4-based sedan and called it a Lagonda Rapide. There would be a handful more Lagonda sedans including the famous William Towns-designed model launched in 1976.
In 2009, Aston Martin attempted to revive Lagonda as a standalone brand for SUVs and sedans. The plan never got off the ground but Aston Martin has kept Lagonda relevant by rolling out the extremely-limited Lagonda Taraf sedan in 2014.
The new Lagondas are due after 2020.
