Aston’s reborn Lagonda lands in Middle East

IT HAS to be one of the softest launches ever: Aston Martin has delivered its first Lagonda-badged luxury limousine to the Middle East.

However, instead of arriving in great fanfare, a couple of snaps of the car cupped in its transporter cradle on airport tarmac, and another in an Omani showroom have marked the reborn Lagonda’s arrival.

The car-maker is yet to reveal all the intricate details of its new flagship, which will only be made for a limited number of Middle Eastern buyers, adding an even higher air of exclusivity to what always was a rare brand.

The Omani car is unlikely to be sold, either, and instead will be used for hot-weather testing ahead of the first customer deliveries expected next year.

“Reviving the iconic Lagonda name from Aston Martin’s renowned heritage, the brand new car is a top-of-the-range, luxury four-door super-saloon which has been designed exclusively for the Middle East market – and Oman’s awe-inspiring mountains, deserts and state-of-the-art road network are providing the perfect backdrop for essential summer heat testing,” Oman Air, the airline that flew the test mule into the sultanate, said.

It is not known if the production car will also be delivered by air.

The Lagonda is based on the brand’s existing VH architecture, with the new car drawing inspiration from the “highly sought-after William Towns-designed Lagonda of 1976”.

Aston has said the car would also feature “many of the same cutting edge engineering techniques seen in modern Aston Martin sports cars” including carbon-fibre body panels.

It will be built in the same factory as the former One-77 supercar.

The wedge-shaped, Aston Martin-badged Lagonda four-door sedan made its debut in 1976, and remained in production until Aston stopped producing the Series 4 model in January 1990.