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What we'd buy in 1985 (if extremely rich and nutty): the Aston Martin Lagonda

The Barn Miami, a Florida specialty dealer in unique and exotic cars, has just listed this 9,000-mile, two-owner, 1985 Aston Martin Lagonda. Priced at $75,000, it seemingly represents not only a bargain (original list price was $150,000, or around $360,000 in today’s money) but an investment opportunity, and a chance to own one of the most iconic and controversial designs in all of automotive history. When the Lagonda was launched in 1976, the storied British marque had fallen on hard times. Sales figures, build quality and employee morale were at a nadir, and the brand needed a big new idea. Aston turned to in-house designer William Towns, who had taken the brand out of the debonair, if increasingly anachronistic, DB2/4/5/6 styling paradigm with his creasy DBS of 1969. Towns delivered an outrageous wedge of ultra-luxury sedan, with a miniscule rectangular grille, a plank-like prow, steeply angled pillars, and a truncated trunk. A 280-horsepower quad-cam, quad-carb 5.3-liter V8 put power to the rear wheels via a Chrysler three-speed automatic transmission, yielding single digit fuel economy. And the lunacy continued on the inside, with one of the industryÂ’s first digital dashboards, the first application of touch-sensitive controls, and an odd sunroof above the rear passenger compartment. “I think this was the way of the company getting itself back on track with a completely new and revolutionary model,” says Paul Spires, the director of Aston Martin Works, the brandÂ’s in-house heritage and restoration shop, housed at the factory in Newport-Pagnell where the Lagonda was originally built. “In the second half of the 1970s, Rolls-Royce was enjoying success with its Silver Shadow and Bentley models, but there were very few other true high luxury sedans to choose from, and there was definitely a demand for something different and modern.” Different and modern, indeed. The Lagonda was at the hemorrhaging edge of the eraÂ’s electronic capabilities, featuring systems that are still getting the bugs worked out of them 40 years later. “When we look at many modern cars with touchscreen technology, you can perhaps see where the far-sighted and ambitions designers and engineers who created this car were looking,” says Spires.

Aston Martin GT8 is lightest and most powerful V8 Vantage ever

Aston Martin has revealed the upcoming GT8 variant, a race-inspired limited edition much like the earlier GT12. Only 150 will be built – 50 more than the 12-cylinder sibling. And like the GT12, none of those will be coming to North America, either. The car has already been offered to select customers, with a sketch depicting the car but without finalized photos, as the manufacturer wanted to keep the car under wraps until the unveiling. As the GT12 uses the six-liter V12 engine, the GT8 is based on the Vantage V8 and uses a 4.7-liter powerplant with 446 horsepower, a slight hike from the regular car's output. The bodywork has been made out of carbon fiber, granting it the title of being the lightest and most powerful V8 Vantage built. According to Aston Martin, all the bodywork is race-bred and not just there for show. Aston's Director of Special Projects and Motorsport, David King says that Aston Martin has "long desired to create a road car that truly reflects our racing activity at Le Mans", and that the GT8 achieves that. View 13 Photos Regarding the choice of transmission, the GT8 follows in the footsteps of the GT12 – either a six-speed manual or the seven-speed Sportshift II paddle-shift, whichever seems to suit the buyer of the motorsport-themed car. The buyer can also decide on optional weight saving measures, as the roof is also available in carbon fiber and the side and rear windows in polycarbonate. Still, there are A/C and audio systems to make the limited edition car a little more bearable than its racing counterparts. There are three optional "Halo" paint schemes to choose from, combining China Grey with blue, Stratus White with green and Stirling Green with lime detailing, the last of which is seen in these press images. Prices start from GBP165,000 ($233,880) and deliveries commence in late 2016. Related Video: News Source: Aston MartinImage Credit: Aston Martin Aston Martin Coupe Racing Vehicles Special and Limited Editions Supercars Videos vantage v8

Aston Martin Vantage might get a Mercedes inline-six

Aston Martin has turned its eye to the inline six-cylinder engine Mercedes-Benz installs in the CLS 53. The British carmaker uses an AMG-sourced 4.0-liter V8 for the DB11 and the Vantage, which produces 503 horsepower and 505 pound-feet of torque in the latter coupe. Aston Martin hasn't said anything about whether or when it would use the inline-six, nor mentioned a product to slot the engine into. If the six does migrate from Germany to England, the move brings several benefits for Aston Martin, and it would create the first six-pot Aston Martin since the 1999 DB7. The 3.0-liter, AMG-built six-cylinder uses an electric turbocharger to put out 430 hp and 383 lb-ft of torque, and gets help from a 48-volt EQ Boost micro-hybrid system throwing in 21 hp and 184 lb-ft. After driving it at a Mercedes-Benz test track, Aston Martin's chief engineer Matt Becker called the powerplant "very complicated and clever," and said, "it's a very impressive engine" that he could envision serving the brand. The 2019 Vantage engine bay can already fit the company's in-house, 5.2-liter V12, so a straight-six shouldn't be hard to swallow. As for how it would fit into the lineup, there's a chance a six-cylinder Vantage supplants the V8. However, since Becker said his engineering team "would not necessarily play" with the AMG's power curves, that option would probably have to wait until AMG upped the three-liters' output. We'd be surprised if Vantage buyers would accept giving up two cylinders and 73 hp. More likely, a six-cylinder Vantage could give Aston Martin a new entry-level model to undercut the $153,081 Vantage V8, but with plenty of ponies to thrill. A V6 coupe could also help the carmaker's emissions scores, and serve specific markets such as China where engine displacements greater than three liters get hit with heavy taxes. Related Video: