When it comes to peak 80s zaniness, it doesn’t get much crazier than the Aston Martin Lagonda. A rolling technology nightmare, the Aston was created with all sorts of caution thrown to the wind in the interest of building a car without peers. The end result was certainly a model that would not soon be repeated, and for the most part, this was a good thing considering the nightmarish quality control issues that followed. Still, people collect them today, so I would expect this example here on craigslist will find a new owner soon, especially with a recently restored interior and an asking price of $45,000.
Thanks to Barn Finds reader Pat L. for the find. When the Lagonda was introduced, there was nothing like it on the road; to this date, not much has changed. The wedge-shaped styling was a dramatic contrast to most anything else approved for production, and the wonky details extended all the way to the rear with the cheese-grater taillights. Of course, the question would soon become whether said taillights and other basic electrical components would still work after a few months of use, but that’s ancient history by this point. Truth be told, if you’re still driving one of these, the chances are good you’ve spent a small fortune chasing every last gremlin to keep it on the road.
While we’re dying to hear about this car’s mechanical upkeep, the seller eschews that information in favor of sharing that the interior has been completely restored. Again, this is encouraging, because I doubt highly even the most well-heeled collector would go through with such an undertaking if the car in question was a dog – and it doesn’t take much for a Lagonda to turn out to be a foolish investment. The end result looks quite high-grade, with fresh leather upholstery that appears to be deserving of the Aston name. The seller doesn’t disclose whether the famously unreliable dash gauge cluster still works, but one can hope.
There are a few details in the ad that are discouraging. For one, “Aston” is spelled “Austin”; for another, the production year is referred to more than once as 1997 versus a far more likely date of 1977. The engine bay isn’t nearly as clean as the interior, and despite the claim that it runs well, this is the sort of car you want to see with a history folder that’s at least three inches thick. The four-cam V8 heart makes good power, but this was no performance car – it was an experiment in extremes for designer William Towns. Today, we often see the Series 2 cars like this show up for sale, but I’d love to see a later Series 4 come up for grabs. Do you think it’s worth $45K?
Jeff this is a 87 series 3 car. The dash has been fitted with a VFD display so that is a plus among the enthusiasts. To own one puts one in an exclusive club. Love it or hate it when you own an exotic the high price of maintaining is a given. I personally love the design and consider this to be a work of art just like other exotics. I would tend to agree at 45K it should sell quickly and I would personally rather have one with 55K than 15k miles. Been gone through and sorted.
“posting deleted by author”. Sold?
Likely
Steve R
Peered into the back trunk of one a few years back. The view of the road below was not expected. These rust like mad. Run, run away.
Even with all its negatives, this Lagonda sets my heart aflutter.
If the seller can’t get the year correct, much less the name, if it pops up again for sale I suggest you run…run far away.
There is a collector here in Barnet, UK, that has more than 20 of these gorgeous motor cars. When I visited him he only owned 12 so if there is one on sale it appears that he is going to buy it. He runs a company that hires out over 500 cars to the film industry. I had one on consignment sale about fiftenn years ago and drove it a couple of times and loved it. More tyre kickers came to my showroom just to look at that Aston than came to view any of the Ferrari’s, Porsches, Maserati’s etc. The picture is of the dashboard of the one that I sold.
Located in the San Fernando valley, CA
That went cheap…those have shot up in price recently…. it’s an iconic car..gremlins or not…how much longer did you expect it to stay cheap?
too squished out’n flat for me, too much ‘over hang’ @ frnt (& possibly rear). Nice car otherwise? Yeah, the interior is so ’80s I love it. Ziggie’s spiders from mars could C it and exclaim “80’s!”
To call or use the word “zaniness” is an injustice to this Aston Martin. The straight angular lines of car design were somewhat in during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Not everyone’s “cup of tea”, including mine, but we all have different tastes. In recent years the value of this model has gone up quite a bit.
It makes me think of a Bill Mitchell concept drawing circa 1973 of what would become the ’77 Caprice, before all the styling compromises necessary to give it the functionality and price point buyers of a Big Chevrolet expected were made, somehow escaped GM Design and was put into production as-is at Newport Pagnell.
I have not seem many white ones and I think it looks even better .
I would buy it just to park in my lounge room and enjoy the drama of it!