A famous British car brand is set to be revived as Aston Martin CEO Ulrich Bez on Monday said he planned to reintroduce Lagonda.
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He said: “After my eight years with Aston Martin, four with profitability, and 16 months of independence, it’s time to think about a longer term future.
“Aston Martin is an honest, authentic brand which builds the most beautiful sports cars combining modern technology with craftsmanship.
“Next year we will launch the four door Rapide sportscar, and this will be followed by the project ‘one 77’, the most spectacular Aston Martin ever. Aston Martins are currently available in 32 countries but we will remain limited in our market penetration by the pure character of our cars – sports cars.
“We have now investigated and concluded that the revival of the Lagonda brand would allow us to develop cars which can have a different character than a sports car, and therefore offer a perfect synergy.
Lagonda will use a unique design language as Aston Martin does. We will take elements of DNA from the past but will be very future orientated as we are with Aston Martin.
“With Lagonda offering exclusive, luxurious and truly versatile products with high quality and usability and suitable for both existing and emerging markets, I believe we can be present in more than 100 countries in the world.
“In 2009 Lagonda is about to celebrate its 100th birthday and in its centenary year we are confident that we will show the first concept of a car which could be in the market in 2012,” he added.
Lagonda dates from 1906 and was acquired by, and integrated into, Aston Martin in 1947. At one time, the famous W O Bentley was its designer.
From 1961 to 1965 the Lagonda name was used four 55 bespoke Rapide sedans and, between 1974 and 1976, seven Lagonda saloons were produced, based on the Aston Martin V8.
The futuristic-looking Aston Martin Lagonda sedan of 1976 (availble into the 1980s) was also based on Aston Martin V8 components and became notorious for electronics glitches.
Aston Martin also produced a concept called the Lagonda Vignale for the 1993 Geneva motor show and, in 1994, built a small number of Lagonda four-door saloons and ‘shooting brakes’ [wagons] based on the Aston Martin Virage.
