Aston Martin had a rough financial period in the 1970s, which is a little-known fact. The vehicle manufacture was on the point of going out of business, and it went on a bold scheme to raise some quick cash. As a result, the Lagonda was developed. The Lagonda was the company's attempt to make a high-end sedan that would be both rare and expensive.

The luxurious four-door saloon known as the Aston Martin Lagonda was produced by the British automaker between 1974 and 1990. In all, there were 645 constructed. The Lagonda went through several incarnations, including the original Series 1, the wedge-shaped Series 2, Series 3, and Series 4.

William Towns was responsible for the design of the vehicle. Before he designed the laser-straight lines of the Lagonda, his key design experience consisted of creating luxury parts like door handles and seats for a variety of British companies.

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The Lagonda Has A Reputation For Being An Ugly Car

Aston Martin Lagonda
Via: Aston Martin

From the beginning, the Lagonda was not well-received. In fact, the press at the time was not shy about airing their disapproval. Bloomberg Businessweek called it "one of the 50 ugliest automobiles of the last 50 years," and Time magazine featured it on its list of "the 50 Worst Cars of All Time," describing it as a technological disaster. Still, despite its criticism, the Lagonda had several positive attributes.

For the time, its hand-built 5.4-liter V8 engine that produced 280 horsepower was a good performer. In the same vein, the cutting-edge electronic LED instruments added the requisite amount of excitement. Did we mention that the Lagonda was the first mass-produced automobile with a digital instrument panel?

Aston Martin Lagonda
Via: Aston Martin

Following the public debut of the sedan's conceptual design in 1976, customers began placing orders for the vehicle, and the first Lagonda was purchased well in advance of its construction. The company invested a significant amount of capital into the research and development of interior electronics. The lavishly furnished interiors came complete with parts that, in the event of damage, are, of course, exceedingly difficult and costly to repair.

Sadly, they overlooked the intricately designed V8 engine's fuel injection system. Even after pushing the engine as far back as they could, it was still insufficient. A new intake system was developed, although this reduced the engine's power output. They modified the engine's cylinder heads to make room for bigger intake valves as a solution. Before manufacture ended in 1989, 645 chassis in all were constructed. Only around 25 cars were produced annually for the U.S. market, each of which took 2,200 man-hours to construct.

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Aston Martin Lagonda Had An Astronomical Price And Poor Demand

Aston Martin Lagonda
Via: Pinterest

It goes without saying that this could have been the root of the problem. In terms of prices, the car sold for £25,000 in 1977, which is about $122,250 today. By 1980, when production reached the planned one car per week, the price was £50,000, which is about $290,320 today. A fairly pricey automobile at the time. Only two other production vehicles, the Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit & Spur and the Bentley Mulsanne, came close to competing with its price tag.

Aston Martin came to the conclusion on their own that the intricate LED instrumentation was, for the most part, unsuccessful. The cost of developing the Lagonda's electronics alone was around four times the budget for the entire vehicle! To keep things interesting, in 1984 they added Cathode Ray Tube instrumentation that brought back fond memories for anyone who grew up with the black and green Apple computer screens of the 1980s.

Aston Martin Lagonda
Via: Pinterest

On the Series 4, various styling modifications were also made, such as getting rid of pop-up headlights, softening certain rough edges, and adding new instruments. Vacuum fluorescent gauges were used this time. When the Series 4 made its debut in 1987, the public had grown tired of the Lagonda's troublesome electronics. In addition, the styling appeared to be out of date. This car's performance was eventually raised to 289 horsepower, and it now weighed somewhere around two and a half tonnes. By 1989, Aston Martin had stopped manufacturing the Lagonda entirely.

Lagonda brand was established in 1899, whereas Aston Martin came into being in 1913. Wilbur Gunn named his company after the Lagonda Creek river that ran through his hometown of Springfield, Ohio. It became one of the world's most desirable automobile brands. In its prime in the 1930s, Lagonda manufactured sports vehicles that were powerful and speedy enough to win Le Mans in 1935, as well as V12-powered limousines fit for royalty.

Unfortunately, failure is a possibility for every automaker. The Lagonda has remained unappreciated for much too long, even though it has been quite cheap to buy. However, people are much more interested in the "ugly" Aston Martin Lagonda today, as it is now seen as the perfect example of 1980s style.