Driven: the Aston Martin you've never heard of

We drive a very rare and supremely expensive Aston Martin

The Taraf has an interesting backstory, and like the rest of the press we didn’t get a chance to drive it when it first launched. A couple of years ago, we got the chance – here’s the story:

Past & present

You don’t have to go too far back into Aston Martin’s tortuous corporate history to find a time when Lagonda saved it. Indeed it’s the product that most people will associate with the name, the wedgy 1970s Aston Lagonda saloon (pictured left), that can take the credit. This was a car famed for both its opinion-splitting design and the unreliability of its electronic systems, but one that also found a steady seam of buyers in an era when Aston was struggling to interest people in its increasingly outdated sportscars.

Only 645 Lagondas were produced in 14 years (1976-1990), but they brought in much-needed revenue during a time when the company’s annual production never broke out of three figures, and occasionally dropped into two. Without it there’s a very good chance Aston wouldn’t have survived for long enough to reach its modern renaissance.

The Lagonda Taraf

Yet here’s a Lagonda that’s certain to be even rarer than its doorstop-profiled predecessor. The Taraf is the first of what, in time, is likely to become a range of Lagonda saloons, and also one of the most exclusive cars on the planet.

Outside Aston Martin

Aston only produced 120 Tarafs between 2015 and 2016. Sales were initially limited to customers in the Middle East until Aston opened orders from other markets, including the UK, with both left- and right-hand drive versions available. It was priced at around US$1 million in America and £696,000 in the UK.

Exclusivity over quantity

Without context that price tag looks ridiculous. For the same money you could have a Bentley Mulsanne (top right), a Rolls-Royce Phantom (bottom right) and a Range Rover (bottom left) on the side. Yet that’s not how this part of the market works. Anybody seriously considering a Lagonda is going to be in the fortunate financial position of being able to scratch any automotive itch they’ve ever had, it will be joining car collections that put Park Lane showrooms to shame.

What these ultra-wealthy customers value above practically anything else is exclusivity, the knowledge that – however rarefied the circles you move in are – you’re never going to have to park your Taraf next to another one.

The showroom

Yet it’s not easy to win attention with an Aston Martin in Newport Pagnell. The company stopped producing cars here in 2002 when it moved engineering and production to Gaydon, but this corner of Buckinghamshire is still constantly exposed to the company’s products. Aston’s Works division and flagship dealership are still here, this week’s star attraction a lightly used One:77 wearing a £2,000,000 pricetag.

Things get even more expensive in the smaller heritage showroom next door with an original 1953 DB3S racer once driven by Sir Stirling Moss offered for £8,400,000.

Presence

Although as the Taraf draws up outside I’m suddenly finding it very hard to look at anything else. It radiates presence, and not just on the basis that its gargantuan size means it’s nearly a foot longer than a long wheelbase S-Class. Despite the numberplates and a shade of metallic gold paintwork that’s more attuned to Dubai summers than Midlands rain it still has the otherworldly swagger of a concept car. 

The muscular lines and swept back styling giving making it look like it was designed for a futuristic movie, the car that the bad guy’s boss would be driven in.

The secret

When the first images of the Taraf were shown Aston very deliberately didn’t tell us anything about it. We had to wait months to even discover its name, let alone any details of its mechanical package. In large part this was the sort of salesmanship necessary to flog ultra-exclusive products to the ultra-wealthy, people who want to get in on something before anybody else does. It was also because, beyond the show stopping styling, there wasn’t really a huge amount to tell.

Describing the Taraf as an XL version of the existing Rapide S saloon is a gross oversimplification, and one that trivializes the huge amount of design and engineering that’s gone into it. But – whisper it – it’s also one that expresses the fundamental truth here. The Taraf sits on a stretched version of the same aluminium architecture and is powered by a development of Aston’s familiar (and soon to die) naturally aspirated V12, which delivers drive to the back axle via a rear-mounted eight-speed autobox.

Up front

Climb into the driver’s seat – which will be relatively few buyers’ first impression of the car – and the similarities are more obvious. The Taraf shares the Rapide’s dashboard, control layout and even front door trims. The steering wheel creates the first double take as you realise the badge embossed in it is green and with a slightly different shape from usual, bearing the legend LAGONDA (there is no Aston Martin badging anywhere on the car.)

At the wheel

Like the Rapide S the seating position feels low and coupe-like, an impression reinforced by closing the door and realising how high the glass line is. The substantial B-pillar sits right next to my shoulder, although I’m probably a fair bit larger than the typical Middle Eastern chauffeur. I also notice that there’s a warning on the right hand mirror in Arabic, presumably a version of the usual “objects may be closer than they appear” disclaimer.

In the back

The back is a very different experience. Some Taraf owners will pilot themselves at least some of the time, though many never will, and that fact is tacitly acknowledged in how much more effort has been expended back here. The engineering team have done an impressive job of carving space out of what remains fundamentally a sportscar architecture, it’s a completely different car from the tight-fitting Rapide S.

In the back

The Lagonda loses the Aston’s chunky centre console, although there’s still a substantial bump over the transmission tunnel, and now also a proper view out of the windows. The wheelbase is 200mm longer than the Rapide, and pretty much all of that has gone into extra legroom.

The rear seats are comfortable but don’t recline, and the Taraf feels short of toys when compared to its obvious rivals. There’s a fridge in the boot accessed between the rear seats and basic climate control, but no turn-and-click controllers or inbuilt rear screens (an iPad based system is an option.) This is a car for people important enough not to have to push buttons.

Ride

The Lagonda still sits on steel springs with switchable dampers charged with combining both comfort and response, a notable contrast to the pillowy air suspension of all its obvious rivals. The engine has a quiet start function, purring into life without the exuberant blip Astons deliver when they first fire up.

The throttle has similary been retuned to deliver a far more leisurely initial response, with the Taraf pulling away cleanly and trundling along happily at a gentle motorcade speed.

Pulling power

Nevertheless the fundamental Aston character isn’t buried particularly deeply. As always, the V12 engine gives its best when worked hard, pulling with increasing vigour and a gorgeous yowling soundtrack at higher revs. The gearbox also seems to be happier in its manual mode than when left in drive, with changes ordered by the shift paddles delivered quickly and cleanly.

The hydraulically assisted steering feels light but increased chassis loadings deliver proper feedback, and the Lagonda feels far smaller on the road than its dimensions suggest. It’s soon being hustled along at speeds that would produce some complaints from any rear-seat passengers with the Taraf showing every sign of enjoying this unlikely back road workout, especially with chassis and throttle pedal firmed up in Sport mode.

The interior of the Taraf

What’s lacking is much in the way of 'waft'. There’s noticeably more road and wind noise that you would find in its obvious rivals, and although the springs and dampers do a good job of dealing with rougher surfaces at speed – and the longer wheelbase definitely helps to smooth things out compared to the Rapide – the Taraf doesn’t deliver the magic carpet experience that normally comes as standard in this segment.

The brakes lack the strong initial bite of Aston’s sportier models, but there’s plenty of stopping power and retardation is easily modulated. It still feels like a sportscar at heart, one that’s doing a decent impression of a limousine. Which, to be fair, it pretty much is.

The bonnet

Lagonda has a longer history than Aston Martin, with the original company having been established as early as 1906. It merged with Aston after the war and, for long periods since, has been effectively dormant, its continued existence evident in nothing more than the “Aston Martin Lagonda” chassis plates that all of the company’s products wear.

Andy Palmer's vision

However CEO Andy Palmer is determined to bring the brand back properly, saying he wants to create a range of Lagonda products that will cover a far larger chunk of the market than the Taraf does alone. For now this is just a fascinating bit of toe-dipping into what’s probably the most rarefied part of the automotive world, and likely to be one of the most exclusive cars I ever drive.

While it’s not perfect by any means, it’s overflowing with character and potentially the start of something far bigger. Here’s to that future. 

Postscript: Since this feature was written Aston Martin has launched a radical new electric concept vehicle badged Lagonda at the Geneva Motor Show, in March 2018.

Price £685,000

Engine V12, 5935cc, petrol

Power 540bhp at 6650rpm

Torque 465lb ft at 5500rpm

Gearbox 8-spd auto

0-60 mph 4.4sec

Top speed 195mph+