Paris motor show: Aston’s Lagonda to go global

Aston Martin has confirmed that its stunning Lagonda super-saloon is to go global. Well, almost. When it was first revealed, this seventies-throwback V12 limo was said to be exclusively for clients based in the Middle East. Which sort of made sense. There are substantial Middle Eastern investments in Aston Martin, around 70 per cent of the last Lagonda saloon models that survive are out there, and hey, it's where the money is.

At Paris though, Aston has been quietly saying that the reception for the car has been excellent and that now, it’s Middle East only - for now...

The car, which draws clear inspiration from the dramatic, wedge-shaped William Towns-designed Lagonda saloon of the 1970s, uses a stretched and widended Aston Martin VH carbon-fibre-and-aluminium chassis and runs the familiar 6.0-litre V12 engine. Rumour has it that it can hit close to a 300kmh top speed.

The car will be built in limited numbers in the same hand-made facility that Aston Martin used to build its One-77 supercar, and each Lagonda’s carbon-fibre body requires 21 hours of painting, lacquering and polishing before it’s ready for delivery.

At 5.4-metres long, it’s the biggest car Aston has ever built, Previous Aston boss Ulrich Bez had always said that there was no need for a car bigger than the DB9-based Rapide saloon, but clearly Aston’s current management (and customers) have moved on from that position.

Lagonda was originally established by WO Bentley after Rolls-Royce squeezed him out of his own eponymous company. The name was bought up in 1947 by tractor magnate Davd Brown who, of course, also owned Aston Martin and whos DB initials still adorn a key model.