Aston Martin Lagonda
1976-1990 · Aston Martin Lagonda — Luxury Saloon, V8, designed by William Towns.
The Story
The 1976 Lagonda is one of the boldest cars Britain ever produced – William Towns’ ‘folded-paper’ wedge, all knife-edge lines and impossible length, sharing little but its 5.3 V8 with any other Aston.
It was the first production car with a digital instrument panel and touch-button controls – technology so troublesome it took two years and roughly four times the rest of the car’s development budget to perfect (then was abandoned by 1980). Nearly GBP 50,000 in 1976, it found wealthy, often Middle-Eastern buyers; later owners included Evel Knievel and AMD founder Jerry Sanders. A genuine design landmark – love it or loathe it.
The Numbers
Benchmarked against its class
Each dial ranks this car within its Luxury Saloon class — fuller means higher, and the tick marks the class midpoint.
Signature Colors
The Designer
William Towns
English designer who joined Aston in 1966 and shaped the DBS (1967), the long-running V8, and the radical wedge Lagonda (1976) and Bulldog concept. Also designed microcars (Minissima/Hustler). Source: Wikipedia.
Studio Motors POV
A divisive masterpiece and a genuine design landmark – the wedge Lagonda is finally getting its due as a future classic. Buy the best-sorted example you can find.
The Engine
Aston Martin Tadek Marek V8 (5.3)
Lineage
Where it sits in the bloodline
Market & Value
Values on cars like this move monthly. Our brokers price from real transactions.
What Reviewers Said About Lagonda
Worth Knowing About the Lagonda
3 Things You Didn’t Know
- 1. It was the world's first production car with a digital instrument panel – and the electronics cost roughly 4x the rest of the car to develop.
- 2. Owners included daredevil Evel Knievel and AMD founder Jerry Sanders.
- 3. The digital/touch dash proved so unreliable that Aston reverted to analogue gauges by 1980.
5 Fast Facts
- 1. 1976-1990 (Series 2-4); 645 built.
- 2. 5.3 V8 (~280 bhp); William Towns wedge design.
- 3. First production car with a digital dash + touch controls.
- 4. ~GBP 50,000 in 1976 – between Ferrari and Rolls-Royce money.
- 5. Buyers skewed wealthy/Middle-Eastern; deliveries from 1979.
Provenance
Owners & what to look for
Famous Owners
Evel Knievel (c.1999-2007) and Jerry Sanders, founder of AMD. Buyers skewed toward Middle-Eastern royalty and the ultra-wealthy.
Studio Buyer’s Brief
Series 2 cars have the original (troublesome) digital dash – charming but a maintenance minefield; later cars are easier to live with. Electronics and the complex body are the risks; sorted cars are rising fast as design icons.
Full Specifications
- Make / Model
- Aston Martin Lagonda
- Class
- Luxury Saloon
- Production years
- 1976-1990
- Units built
- 645 (Series 2-4)
- Variants
- Series 2-4 ‘wedge’ saloon (1976-90)
- Engine layout
- Front
- Engine
- V8
- Engine family
- Aston Martin Tadek Marek V8 (5.3)
- Displacement
- 5,340 cc (5.3L) V8
- Power
- 280 hp
- Torque
- 360 lb-ft
- 0–60 mph
- 7.9 s
- Top speed
- 148 mph
- Power-to-weight
- 138 hp/tonne · 15.9 lb/hp
- Transmission
- 3-speed Torqueflite auto (5-speed manual rare)
- Drivetrain
- RWD (front engine) · Petrol
- Curb weight
- 4460 lb
Questions
Lagonda FAQ
Was the Aston Martin Lagonda the first production car with a digital dashboard?
Yes. The Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2 (from 1976) was the first series-production car to feature a fully digital instrument panel with touch-sensitive controls, developed in partnership with the Cranfield Institute of Technology. No other manufacturer had offered a digital dash in a production car before it launched.
Why was the Lagonda’s digital dashboard so unreliable?
The Lagonda’s electronics cost approximately four times the original development budget and required three additional years after the 1976 debut before they functioned reliably. Early customers found the instrumentation largely non-functional; Aston Martin progressively replaced the original systems with revised digital/CRT/VFD-style instrumentation across later production runs.
Who designed the Aston Martin Lagonda?
The Lagonda was designed by William Towns — also responsible for the DBS (1967) and the Aston Martin V8. Towns created the extreme ‘folded paper’ wedge silhouette, all knife-edge lines and an impossibly long bonnet, which caused a sensation at its 1976 Earl’s Court Motor Show debut and remains one of the most striking British car designs ever.
What is an Aston Martin Lagonda worth today?
Aston Martin Lagonda examples (Series 2-4, 1976-1990, 645 built) trade for approximately $70,000-$160,000 in 2025. Series 2 cars with functioning original digital dashes attract a collector premium; later Series 3 and 4 cars offer more reliable electronics and are generally more usable.
How did the Lagonda compare to other luxury saloons of its era?
Priced at approximately £49,933 in 1980, the Lagonda sat between the Ferrari 400 / Maserati Kyalami below and the Rolls-Royce Corniche above — supercar money for a four-door car. Its 5.3-litre V8 and digital-instrument drama offered something neither rival could match; its electronics unreliability was its defining flaw.
The Aston Martin Lineup
Explore every Aston Martin
DB4 GT Zagato ’60DB5 ’63DB6 ’65DBS (1967) ’67V8 ’69
Lagonda ’76V8 Vantage (1977) ’77
V8 Vantage (Supercharged) ’93DB7 ’94DB7 Vantage ’99
V12 Vanquish ’01DB9 ’04V8 Vantage (2005) ’05DBS (2007) ’07V12 Vantage (2009) ’09One-77 ’09
Rapide ’10Vanquish (2012) ’12V12 Zagato ’12V12 Vantage GT12 ’15DB11 ’16Vanquish Zagato ’16Vantage ’18DBS Superleggera ’18
DBX ’20Valkyrie ’21V12 Speedster ’21V12 Vantage (2022) ’22Valour ’23Vanquish (2024) ’24Valiant ’24Valhalla ’25
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