Aston Martin Lagonda Series 1

Manufacturer	Aston Martin
Production	1974 to 1975
Class	Luxury car
Body style	4-door GT saloon
Layout	FR layout
Engine	5.3 L V8
wheelbase:	2910mm
Length:	4928mm
Height:	553mm
curb weight:	1996 kg
Top speed:	240 km/h (149 mph)

The Aston Martin Lagonda Series 1 is a sporty luxury sedan by the British car manufacturer Aston Martin, which is derived from the Aston Martin V8 coupé. It appeared as a prototype in 1969 and was built in small series from 1974 to 1976.

History

The Lagonda (in-house: Project MP 230) was a sports car manufacturer that was taken over by David Brown and integrated into Aston Martin, a company belonging to the same group. While Aston Martin was responsible for sports and racing cars, Lagonda covered the market area of ​​high-priced sporty sedans at this time. After the Rapide was discontinued, Aston Martin initially stopped offering any Lagonda models. A four-door version of the coupe DBS V8 was created in 1969 under the name Lagonda; this hatchback limousine initially did not get beyond the prototype stage. The one-off from 1969 was used by CEO David Brown as a private vehicle for some time. It was only after the British investor Company Developments took over Aston Martin in 1972 that the company turned back to the four-door sedan. 1974 production begin. The sedan thus complemented the two-door V8 coupé in the company's model range, which in turn had replaced the DBS V8. 

The decision to go into series production of the sedan came at a time when the effects of the first oil price crisis were being felt and Aston Martin again ran into financial difficulties at launch, the Lagonda was expensive at a cost of £14,040, In December 1974 the company was insolvent and did not build a single car in the first six months of 1975. It was not until June 1975 that a consortium of British and North American businessmen took over the business and merged it into Aston Martin Lagonda (1975) Ltd. Production was gradually resumed. Only 21 cars were made in 1975.1976 Aston Martin built the last orders for the four-door sedan; after that their production was stopped.

The new management then prompted the development of a new Lagonda, which stands out visually from the well-known V8 coupe and as an "eye-catcher" With this specification, a four-door notchback sedan with a wedge-shaped body was created according to a draft by William Towns developed within a month and a sensational digital instrumentation that was prone to defects in practice. Aston Martin sold the sedan built from 1974 to 1976 unlike before no longer under the Lagonda brand, but as Aston Martin Lagonda; the term Lagonda had been downgraded to a mere model name. The wedge-shaped limousine presented in 1976 and produced in three series from 1979 also bears the name Aston Martin Lagonda. In order to conceptually distinguish the individual generations from each other, the following differentiation scheme has been established: The Aston Martin Lagonda built from 1974 to 1976 is regarded as Series 1, while the three later series of the wedge-shaped sedan are known as Series 2, Series 3 and Series 4.

The prototype presented in 1969 largely corresponds to the later production vehicles, but differs from them in details. While the production vehicles have the front end of the contemporary V8 Series 3, the front end of the prototype corresponds to that of the DBS coupe. It has four small iodine vapor lamps which are integrated into the radiator cowling along with the turn signal/parking light units of the Ford Cortina Mk. II. In addition, a 5.0 litre version of the eight-cylinder engine was originally installed. Subsequent owners have since replaced this engine with a production model with a displacement of 5.3 litres. 

The Aston Martin Lagonda S1 is stylistically and technically a four-door version of the Aston Martin V8 hatchback coupe. That is why the sedan is sometimes referred to in the literature as the 4-Door V8 using many of the parts. The wheelbase is 30.5 cm longer than that of the DBS/V8; The same applies to the total length. The shape of the body is a design by William Towns, a former designer at the Roots Group who was primarily responsible for designing seats at Aston Martin. When Aston Martin began planning the successor to the DB6 Towns developed a design to the proposal from the Italian Carrozzeria Touring, which Aston Martin had first commissioned. In a direct comparison, Towns' design ultimately prevailed over Touring's design.

Conceptually, Towns had planned both a coupe and a sedan from the start. He initially designed the limousine and derived the shorter coupé from it. The production version of the Lagonda S1 is stylistically the same as the Aston Martin V8 Series 3. It shares most of the body panels with it, especially in the area of ​​the front end. Like the V8, the Lagonda S1 has a long bonnet. was inspired here by the 1966 Chevrolet Camaro. The straight sloping roof line, which is particularly characteristic of the V8 coupe and is also found (with a different angle) on the Lagonda S1. The standard sedan has the front section of the V8 Coupé with two round individual headlights. 

The Aston Martin Lagonda S1 has an eight-cylinder V-engine whose basic design is the same as that of the DBS V8 and the V8. Aston Martin had developed it from 1963 under the direction of Tadek Marek. The displacement of the production model is 5.3 liters (5341 cm³; bore × stroke: 100 × 85mm). Technically, the engine of the sedan corresponds to the expansion stage that is used in the V8 Series 3 Coupé. It also has four double Weber downdraft carburettors (Tp 42 DNCF ) and has an output of around 208 kW (283 hp; 280 bhp). Some Lagonda S1 later received modified, sometimes heavily tuned engines. At least two cars received a 7.0-litre version of the eight-cylinder engine that was built by Aston Martin tuners RS Williams Ltd. was manufactured and delivers power between 450 and 480 hp.  At least one car also received the slightly extended rear end of the V8 Series 4 "Oscar India" with a spoiler lip.

As with the V8, there was a choice of a three-speed automatic transmission from Chrysler (Torque Flite) or a manual five-speed transmission from ZF. Only two vehicles received the ZF transmission.

After the 1969 prototype Aston Martin built eight chassis and bodies-in-white for the Lagonda S1 in 1974, seven of which were completed and sold by 1976. A number of series were produced during the lifetime of the Lagonda, the original Series 1, and the wedge-shaped Series 2,3 and 4. A total of 645 cars were produced in the 12-year production run of the wedged shaped version. The original Series 1 was only produced from 1974 to 1975.This was a long-wheel based, four-door version of the Aston Martin V8 was announced at the 1974 London Motor Show. Designed by William Towns and based on the DBS, it was the first car to wear the Lagonda name since the 1961 Rapide. The 5.3 L V8 engine supplied with a 5-speed manual or automatic transmission. Only seven were sold.

Specification

• Engine: 5.3 L 5,340 cc (326 cu in) DOHC V8, producing 280 bhp (209 kW; 284 PS) and torque 301 lb ft (408 N·m)
• Top speed: 149 mph (240 km/h) and acceleration to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds