It’s already past bed time, but as I took a quick last cruise through the Cohort—which is chock-full of fantastic cars—this picture stopped me in my tracks, and had a very anti-soporific effect. Wow; my retinas are sizzling. The Great Brougham Epoch comes to Newport, Pagnell? This may be the first time I put the interior of a car first in a post. Be prepared for the exterior; it’s just as zingy.
In addition to the wild colors and a very bold folded-paper design by William Townes, the 1976 Lagonda was the world’s first car to use computer management and digital LED instruments and touch pad controls, but needless to say, very few of those are still functioning. Allegedly, the development of its electronics cost three times as much as the rest of the car. And they proved to be profoundly unreliable.
Only 645 Lagondas were built over a twelve year run and numerous Series. With a Chrysler Torqueflite backing up the big AM 5.3 L DOHC V8, performance was brisk for the times, with a supposed 149 mph top speed. Fuel economy rarely ever broke out of the single digits. But its buyers probably didn’t care, given that the Lagonda’s price was right up there in Rolls Royce territory.
This appears to be a Series 2 Lagonda, delivered between 1979 and 1985. I’ve never seen one in this color scheme; if I had, I certainly wouldn’t have forgotten it. And I’m going to wake up in the morning wondering about that wild green Lagonda I dreamed about last night. It couldn’t have been for real.
When I was a young boy I thought these cars were so cool. I have never seen this wild color combo or anything even close to it. I am totally comfortable admiring these cars without ever owning one, but I would love to have one come visit for about a week.
It looks like something a person built in their garage on the weekends.
From the firewall to the C pillar it almost looks like a GM B body. The front and rear could have been grafted on to a late 70’s Caprice in somebody’s garage, probably with better quality control than AM had at the time.
Very unusual.
I forget who and when, but somebody posted a bunch of GM styling exercises from the mid-late 70s on here once, designs that ended up evolving into the ’77 B-Body and FWD C/H cars, and they actually looked very close to this!
At a dealer near you – the new Lucas 64, a personal computer with an external 5.5 floppy disk drive, monochrome monitor, and back up Jazz tape drive. Amaze your friends playing hours of Pong and connect to the Interweb for more excitement!
Super freaking fantastic find and what a colour!
St. Patrick’s Day so soon? As of right now, I am really digging that yellow Matador wagon with the green interior that I was not so crazy about yesterday.
I know we all lament the dull color palette of today’s cars, but this is one design that is so elegant in its simplicity, that I believe it looks better in an understated hue.
Yep, I agree. Although this color on this car would have been perfect for an episode of Miami Vice.
Agreed.
Quite a find! In my life, I have seen one Lagonda at a collector car auction, passed one going the other way on the highway, and missed seeing one at a car show. It left before I spotted it, and only saw someone else’s pictures of it posted online afterwards.
I would echo LeBaron’s comment exactly: Thought they were cool as a kid, when I saw pictures of one in a book or magazine. When I finally saw one in person, it looked all wrong somehow. I’d like to take one on an extended test drive, but I wouldn’t want to own it, thanks mostly to the temperamental electronics.
Aston also built a concept sports car called the Bulldog, based on the Lagonda platform. It had gullwing doors, and reminded me of an Origami interpretation of a DeLorean or the car from short-lived TV show Automan (which was actually a Lamborghini Countach).
I saw this one a couple years back. Fantastic car in every way. The colour is Sea Green Pearlecent and according to the owner was resprayed over a Windemere Green soon after delivery by its Middle Eastern owner.
A few more photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/4665205354/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/4664582153/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/daveseven/4665203790/
This Lagonda was so bold, but the technology was not sufficiently mature to deliver on the promise. I remember reading that the press car wouldn’t start at the car’s introduction. All the Aston execs could do was hustle everyone off for refreshments.
I have always loved these cars, but like anyone else who understands how patently impossible it would be to keep one of them on the road, I would never want to actually own one. But man, they sure are neat to look at IMO.
Lucas Electrics I presume? One of those cars I absolutely adore, but would never have the guts to own one.
Best be on good terms with Nigel the mechanic,most owners ended up burning shoe leather rather than rubber.Early computers and Joe Lucas electrics wasn’t a great idea
You could still burn rubber – anyone who could afford one of these could afford a spare car.
“James, bring around the Lagonda. And have the Caprice ready to follow me.”
“Very good, Sir.”
“James, Pull the Lagonda around front. You will find the chain in the trunk.”
Here’s a very brief link to an owner who used one as a daily driver putting 60,000 miles on it. Not too many details but he seemed to have been able to used it reliably during his 6 years of ownership
http://www.lagondanet.com/intro.html
I loved the look of the Lagonda when I was a kid — it was like something the Jetsons would drive.
According to lagonda.net, the Ministry of Planning in Baghdad owns one of these. There’s also one in Zimbabwe — how they keep it running is beyond imagining.
Here is a link to more second hand Lagonda stories.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring-secondhand-pose-1183435.html
Horrid,it goes to show tons of money and good taste rarely go together.Quite possibly one of the ugliest cars ever made
Back in 1981, Smokey Bear had been offered a very lucrative package to jump ship and become the spokesman for the California Division of Forestry. Despite the job security of a Fed gig and even a 1952 Federal law protecting his name and likeness, he had become frustrated by both Carter-era austerity programs and the budget cuts of the early Reagan years, not to mention the constant commutes between DC and his estate (he successfully invested much of his GS-15 level salary) near Yosemite. Sacramento would be a lot closer.
USFS attempted to sweeten the pot with a salary bump up to Senior Executive Service level, use of an Air Force Sabreliner, and a Forest Service Green Aston Martin Lagonda.
In the end, Smokey stayed with the USFS, but it took many years for the Forest Service’s reputation to recover from the bad press and the nasty House and Senate hearings into Smokeygate.
As for Smokey, his mansion burned in a wildfire. He’s gone back to living in the woods and driving a lifted XJ he bought at a USFS auction. He couldn’t be happier!
Forest Service green. Nailed it!
I remember when I first saw pictures of this car. I was about 7, maybe 8 yrs old. I thought it looked attractive from some angles, while also looking just ugly from other angles. This is the first time I’ve seen interior shots of the car. The interior looks nicer than the outside.
If I remember exactly Aston reached out to Texas Instruments for the tech to work the dash.
The last thing I ever seen with a dark green and white interior was some kind of special edition early nineties Cougar that I once changed oil in. It was white with special badges that had something to do with golf on the outside, popped open the door and WHOA! You spent good money on this?
Leave the gaudy lego block cars for the children please! Especially in this super gaudy color combination. I saw one of these Lagonda in 2006 in LA, it was an all black one with black interior. If you must drive it, let it be an all black one and not look like a pimp car.
Holy carp! only 645 built? I’m sorry I didn’t have one of those fancy camera phones back then to get a photo of one of these in the wild. 😐
Not the greatest color combo but I saw one of theas in the flesh recently it’s quite amazing they realy are 1970s futurism there’re so low I,d love one
AAAAHHHHHH, MY EYES!
I loved this car as a teen back in the 80s. But what’s going on here with the paint scheme? Not good. Not good at all.
Someone get this car over to Maaco – stat!
Ah, the infancy of digital, though the Lagonda system was rare and trouble prone, by 1978 Cadillac was offering the Delco designed full digital dash and trip computer option for the Seville, Trip Master, a $920 option($3200 today!), the option filtered to the new 1979 Eldorado too.
These Lagondas always struck me as odd cars, and fairly crappy for how much they cost, but still interesting, I’ve only ever seen a couple in person back in the Cocaine Cowboy heydays.
Wouldn’t William Towns have been a little old to submit a Pinewood Derby entry?
That said, point to A-M for the courage to try something — ahem — different. And I like the color.
One of these would have been the most brilliant pinewood derby entry ever. Damn, I’m totally stealing that if I have a son. (And if scouting still exists…)
I love these.
I really like the razor edge design on it and I’m intrigued by the use of the cathode ray display and early technology on it.
Would love to see a functioning one.
Can’t be impossible to run if that guy jerseyfred linked to, got to use his daily for that long having bought it used. I’m sure it’s a matter of $.
I like how the Rapide pays homage to the Lagonda with the shape of the greenhouse and low slung design. Wonder why they didn’t revive the Lagonda name.
The Lagonda Rapide from the early 60s is gorgeous.
This car would look weird with low profile tires. Pretty sure part of the look is the tall tires
The color combo on this one does look a bit Jack Nickaus for Lincoln, but I’d still take it. The interior actually doesn’t look bad, a variation of BRG and tan.
It’s the exterior that’s a bit more out there but still fits in with the period this car is from.
For a sec I thought the white on the exterior was the sun reflecting but I guess it is two tone.
Good question on the Lagonda name. Maybe they’re saving it for a super-premium range.
There is a Lagonda sedan in development ATM, Don. It’s for Middle Eastern markets only. Pays homage to this, but the surfacing is better! http://www.carscoops.com/2014/09/aston-martin-shows-new-lagonda-sedan-30.html
Thanks! Roofline definitely paying homage to this. Its like a combo between this and the current Rapide with a better grille. I wonder how many will make it out of the M.E.
I can’t say I ever loved the Lagonda but in the shorter/taller/narrower flame surfaced hell we live in today it looks better and better to me every year. I’d easily take this rather gaudy colored Lagonda over the current crop of supercar sedans like the Porsche Panamera or the current Aston Martin Rapid.
That car is an amazingly bold statement and shows how much we have lost in the sea of beige and silver.
I had one on my bedroom wall in about 1976/7/8. It looked like the future, and arguably some of it has come off.
Electronics are much more present in your new car infotainment (what a word) than ever, and although your instruments may not be a digital presentation, they’re almost certainly electronic behind.
Some one had to be first, and it had to someone who could charge for it. How much did your first mobile phone or flat screen TV cost?
The styling goes with it, but the colour is a boit too much. You can imagine the interiro colurs (in the usual Aston leather and real wood) in a Rolls-Royc eof the period as well, if not the shapes.
It could be a nice CC as a garage mate for my DD Aston Martin Rapide. ……..one day…..
A British Stutz Blackhawk I think. If there was an English Elvis he would have bought one and shot it when the electronics failed.
We had Shakin’ Stevens a Pound Shop version
there’s an old piano and they’re playing it hot behind the green lagonda
Hah! CC effect. I thought of these yesterday when I was at my mechanic’s shop and looking down at how low the bumper of my Corolla FX was. Great looking car.
I stated this elsewhere in a post regarding the first generation Cadillac Seville, but I felt this chiseled look (though not quite so extreme) should have been the way Cadillac went in 1980 with the second generation Seville. IMO it would have looked like a modern, natural evolution of the upright look started in ’75. At the time I thought the bustle back design was a step backwards for a benchmark flagship car like the Seville. I think this more chiseled direction, without the exaggerated overhangs of course, would have won Cadillac lots of accolades for style. And pointed them in a better direction. Rather than the polarizing retro 1930s look they went with. To my youthful eyes, the Seville became an old guy’s car in 1980. There is lots of ’75 Seville in the exterior proportions of the Lagonda. Yet it looks fresher and newer. I see some Lagonda in the ’81 DeLorean as well.
These fascinated me as a teenager, but so did many other things that I would never be interested in today!
A rare and interesting car but to me its a bit like a freak show at the country fair. Quite hideous really and from what I have read in the past, those electronics (especially the controls) were very troublesome when new. By now they must be a nightmare.
Electrics by Lucas? There is a problem right from the start. Lucas used to be called “prince of darkness”, pretty average for a company that made lighting!
I loved these, and still do (color combination aside).
When one purchased a Lagonda, one was fitted first, and the car was built to Sir’s measurements.
Wow – I love the Lagonda and usually love the color green, but I’m thinking this might be one of those “too much of a good thing” scenarios. The interior is great, actually… and I wanna love the U.S. Forestry Service Green too, but it’s a bit much!
As it turns out the color combo isn’t quite as wild as it appears in the photo. The bright sun is making the c-pillar appear white.
As mentioned earlier, the “Smokey” Lagonda was originally built for a Middle Eastern billionaire. The current owner is a software engineer in Vancouver where it is a regular at local shows. It is believed to be the only one painted that color……
Nice car, not sure I’d ever want one the electronics were never any good so legend tells and I’m not the greatest fan of that colour though it sure stands out from the crowd.
Why did AM foist this glitzy razor-edged monstrobarge upon the world instead of doing more four-door AM V8s? They only built a handful of these in the mid-70s–just gorgeous. Especially compared to that Chernobyl-green wedge.
“Great Brougham Epoch”? What does that even mean?
Something I coined: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-american/curbside-classic-1965-ford-ltd-revolutionary-it-singlehandedly-launched-the-great-brougham-epoch/
Long time fan of these and I’ve seen 5, yes 5 of them in the steel! First one in 1989 as brand-new car in the showroom in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The next two at a British car show day in 1995 in Boca Raton, FL. Another heading south on I-95 and then last circa 1999 on A1A near Marine Land, FL. All unforgettable experiences and I still loved the design, even after seeing them live!
With all of the GM Concept talk, thought I’d bring this one into the mix, can’t you see the rub-off on the shape? This is obviously ’79-’85 E-body based…
1980 Pierre Cardin Evolution – more than a few of these were built.
more than a few of these were built
Why?
I have a 1980 Pierre Cardin Evolution 1 Convertible In Calif.
I remember the magazines making a big deal about the touch screen or similar controls inside. Always loved the styling on these Lagondas and in a strange way they remind me of the Volvo 700-series, a favorite of mine.
Here is a concept car for what a future gen Lagonda might look like. AM was careful not to make the same mistake Jaguar did where their new sedans have none of the classic lines. Except for the XF, Jag sales are in the toilet, though Paul for some reason thinks the cars are selling well.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2014/08/jaguar-selling-f-types-much-else/
First one of these I ever saw was at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, in 1979. I’d read about them in the US car mags, but was unprepared for what a startling (and not in a good way) sight they really are. Meeting one face-to-snout, I couldn’t find an angle the car looked good to me from. It struck me as a rather esoteric and arbitrary styling exercise (“Design a car as if curved lines didn’t exist!”) that had somehow made it into production. “Cutting-edge design”? Definitely. But the result was less progressive than merely bizarre.
FTR, I recall the Lagonda at Beaulieu being black (it would have been even more startling in this Nuclear Green), but Wiki’s list of the museum’s current collection mentions several A-Ms, but no Lagondas:
First one of these I ever saw was at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, England, in 1979. I’d read about them in the US car mags, but was unprepared for what a startling (and not in a good way) sight they really are. Meeting one face-to-snout, I couldn’t find an angle the car looked good to me from. It struck me as a rather esoteric and arbitrary styling exercise (“Design a car as if curved lines didn’t exist!”) that had somehow made it into production. “Cutting-edge design”? Definitely. But the result was less progressive than merely bizarre.
FTR, the Lagonda I saw at Beaulieu appears to have departed for points unknown. Wiki’s list of the museum’s current collection mentions several A-Ms, but no Lagondas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vehicles_at_the_National_Motor_Museum,_Beaulieu
I’ve always loved these, for their sheer 80’s superwealthy out-there factor. This green paint though…now that’s a bit much.
The interior color combo, on the other hand, I love. And I’ve seen something like it on a newer one! I attended a concours event in 2007, and one of the cars in attendance was a DB9 convertible in a medium metallic green with a green and beige interior. Beige/off-white seats, green carpets, green accents on the dash. Breathtaking. And really reminds me of an updated version of this one! I photographed it but it seems to be lost to time, sadly.