Lagonda Taraf

Lagonda Taraf
The Lagonda Taraf at the Goodwood Festival of Speed
Overview
Manufacturer	Lagonda (Aston Martin)
Production	2015–December 2016
Assembly	Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom
Designer	Marek Reichman[1]
Body and chassis
Class	Full-size luxury car
Body style	4-door saloon
Layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Platform	VH Generation3
Related	Aston Martin DB9 Aston Martin Rapide
Powertrain
Engine	6.0 L AM11 V12
Transmission	8-speed ZF automatic
Dimensions
Wheelbase	3,190 mm (125.6 in)
Length	5,397 mm (212.5 in)
Width	1,917 mm (75.5 in)
Height	1,389 mm (54.7 in)
Chronology
Predecessor	Aston Martin Lagonda

The Lagonda Taraf is a four-door full-sized luxury car manufactured by the British car manufacturer Aston Martin under its Lagonda subsidiary. The marque which was established in 1906, has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. Only 120 cars were built, each of which was priced at US$1 million. ^[2]

History

The Lagonda brand was founded in 1906 by Wilbur Gunn. The brand won the 1935 Le Mans 24 Hour race with a Lagonda M45R driven by John Stuart Hindmarsh and Luis Fontés. The Lagonda Rapide V-12 introduced in 1939 was the most expensive car in the United States at the time of its launch. The company however soon filed for bankruptcy due to the failing customer interest in luxury and sports cars mainly due to the ongoing great depression and the start of the Second World War. The brand was bought by Alan Good, who outbid Rolls-Royce Limited. In 1947, Lagonda was bought by David Brown, who had also bought Aston Martin. The brand came back in 1976 after decades of being inactive with the Aston Martin Lagonda, which was badged as an Aston Martin model. However the model was discontinued in early 1990, effectively killing off the brand name as well.^[2][3][4]

Aston Martin decided to revive the Lagonda brand in 2009, to expand outside its traditional sporting realm into untapped segments such as luxury saloons and celebrate Lagonda's centennial anniversary.^[5]

The Lagonda branding on the Taraf

Lagonda Taraf (rear)

The resulting four-wheel-drive 4-Seater concept saloon unvieled in collaboration with Mercedes-Benz at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show, met with mixed reviews. This led to plans for bringing the Taraf getting prioritised, with Aston Martin beginning work on Project Comet (the initial code name for the Taraf).^[1][6][7]

Design

Project Comet was undertaken by Aston Martin's Q division which specialises commissioning bespoke cars and customisions existing models to customer specifications. The final full-size model was completed in 8 months of the first studio sketches in January 2014. Marek Reichman attributed to the swift execution to lessons learnt from the production of the Aston Martin One-77, which took two years to complete from design to conception.^[8]

The car was intended as a homage to the Aston Martin Lagonda, which was produced between 1976 and 1990. A total of 645 of those cars were produced, each of which took 2,200 man hours to make. ^[9]

Specifications and performance

Interior with wood trim

The Taraf is powered by a 48-valve, 6.0-litre V12 producing generating a maximum power output of 540 PS (397 kW; 533 hp) at 6,650 rpm and 630 N⋅m (465 lb⋅ft) of torque at 5,500 rpm, the engine was assembled at Ford's bespoke Niehl engine facility in Cologne, Germany, the engine transferrs power to the rear wheels via an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission moilunted between the rear wheels. The Garage utilises the Aston Martin VH Generation3 platform, underpinning the DB9 and Rapide, with a stretched wheelbase. The body panels are made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), which then receives a seven-layer paint job besides polishing. The main intention of using the material was to keep the weight low due to the added luxury components in the car.

The interior included elements borrowed from other Aston Martin models, mainly the Rapide and features console-mounted push-button transmission controls, a Rube Goldberg infotainment system, a 1,000-watt Bang & Olufsen BeoSound audio system and premium leather upholstery. The interior had various choices of trims, ranging from a variety of wood to carbon fibre. A long wheelbase attributed to the increased legroom at the rear seats.

The Taraf has a claimed 0–97 km/h (0–60 mph) accelration time of 4.4 seconds and a maximum speed of 314 km/h (195 mph).^[2]

Production

Top Gear reported that the Taraf was undergoing hot weather testing in Oman in September 2014. The car was put through 14,000 miles (23,000 km) of testing in four weeks in temperatures ranging between 30–50°C. The car was subsequently unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. ^[10][11]

The car began production in 2015, with the company stating that only 100 cars would be made and the car originally intended for the middle-east. The Taraf was produced in Aston Martin's plant in Gaydon, Warwickshire. When Andy Palmer took over as the CEO, he had the car's potential markets widened to include Europe, USA, Singapore and South Africa. He also had the number of cars to be produced increased to 200. As of 2015, only 40 cars were produced. The car was the most expensive four-door saloon in the world as of April 2016.^{[2][12][1][8][13]}

The Taraf made an appearance at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed. Production ended by December 2016, with 120 cars sold.^[1][14][15]

Reception

The car received positive reviews on release, with most reviewers citing the steep price as the biggest downside. Angus MacKenzie in his review for Motor Trend wrote the following: "This $1 million sedan, hand-built by Aston Martin, costs more than five times as much as a Mercedes-Maybach S600. Yet it matters little to the people who will buy the Taraf that the Maybach is technically the more accomplished ultra-luxury sedan." Autocar was also critical of the price, saying "Without context that price tag looks ridiculous. For the same money you could buy both a Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé and a Bentley Mulsanne plus a fully loaded Range Rover SV Autobiography on the side."^[2][16]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aston Martin Lagonda Taraf.

• Lagonda Taraf on astonmartin.com