By Edward Niedermeyer
October 2, 2008
When Aston-Martin CEO Dr Ulrich Bez announced that his firm would be reviving the Lagonda name, there was some understandable confusion. Traditionally, the Lagonda name is reserved for four-door Astons. Yet the forthcoming Rapide four-door coupe has only been called an Aston and carries Aston’s distinctive styling cues. Speaking at the Paris Auto Show, Bez confirmed that the Rapide would only be offered as an Aston-Martin, but that the Lagonda name had been exhumed to allow the company to build… get this… an SUV. “The Rapide will only be an Aston Martin,” Bez tells Autocar, “It will be a sports car and not a limo. A Lagonda will be different. There won’t ever be an Aston SUV but it fits Lagonda.” Though it’s heartening to learn that Bez wouldn’t consider sullying the Aston brand with an SUV, you’d think that logic would keep him from reviving another storied name simply to compete in a death-spiraling segment. If you want a swank British SUV you buy a Landie, right? And if you buy a four-door Aston, it’s going to be an Aston Rapide. So why the necromancy?
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POWERED
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
The stink of death surrounding the SUV could send the body style into the same league as the station wagon – which is after all, what an SUV really is, just with poor handling and gas economy. Why anyone would try and launch a brand with a new SUV is beyond me.
–chuck
October 2nd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
It’s not unprecedented.
The last time someone tried to revive the “Studebaker” name it was stuck on a Hummer H2 look-alike built on a Ford Excursion chassis.
Maybe rich Arabs will buy the Lagonda SUV.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Shades of the V-12 Rambo Lambo!
http://www.lamborghiniregistry.com/LM002/index.html
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:45 pm
Now that is ugliest SUV I’ve ever seen.
Yeah, the segment is best forgotten for new products.
Are we reaching the end of interesting and compelling vehicles? Will we reach back 60 years to something really old and make it new again?
I hope so.
October 2nd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Reviving a dead brand name to start building SUVs. With thinking like that this guy could easily be the next GM CEO.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Actually, the idea of a Lagonda SUV isn’t unprecedented. After all, it would bring back memories of the body on frame construction of the Lagondas of the 30s!