Aston Martin Lagonda unveils the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept, continuing the journey towards a new range of state of the art, luxury vehicles driven by zero emission powertrain technologies. Lagonda production is planned to start in 2022.
Built around near-future technologies such as its advanced Battery Electric drivetrain, the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept is an ultra-stylish, supremely luxurious, fully electric emission-free vehicle that can transport its occupants to remote and spectacular locations. It develops the designs and materials seen in last year’s widely acclaimed Lagonda Vision Concept, tailoring them for the new and challenging environments that an all-terrain vehicle is capable of reaching.
Lagonda aims to be the world’s first zero emission luxury brand. It will confound traditional thinking and take full advantage of the latest advances in both electrification and autonomous driving technologies, which amount to the biggest revolution in land-bound transportation since the invention of the car. Lagonda will show how true luxury and modern design, far from being diametrically opposed interests, can exist in total harmony and enhance each other’s most desirable characteristics.
Andy Palmer, Aston Martin Lagonda President and Group Chief Executive Officer said: ‘The Lagonda All-Terrain Concept adds a hugely exciting sense of adventure to the unique brand of luxury, emission-free vehicles that Lagonda is planning to produce. This is a car that would be at home whisking someone straight from a glamorous red carpet event to a remote scientific research lab. It shows the bold possibilities for Lagonda and demonstrates how the company will push to expand horizons in every area, whether it be technology, design or scope of travel.’
Image courtesy Aston Martin Image courtesy Aston Martin
Lagonda All-Terrain Concept
The Lagonda All-Terrain Concept is a near future study that continues the evolution of a design language that could be seen in production Lagonda models as soon as 2022. Where the Lagonda Vision Concept shown at last year’s Geneva motor show was purely focused on road travel, this new vehicle broadens Lagonda’s horizons. It appeals to a pioneering spirit of adventure and such is its futuristic design that you could just as easily imagine it roaming the surface of Mars as a mountain in Scotland.
In the same way that the exterior design of the Vision Concept took some of its inspiration from Concorde, so the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept has taken some of its initial design language from the world of the super yacht. There is a relaxed elegance to the rear-leaning gesture of the belt line, but there is also an inherent robustness that is in-keeping with the terrains that the vehicle is designed to tackle. The surfacing is incredibly futuristic, with forms and shapes that look like they have been created by the huge, planetary forces of gravity fields.
Thanks to a large proportion of the vehicle’s stiffness coming from the floor where the batteries are stored, the designers have once again been able to fit rear-hinged back doors. These not only allow for a spectacular ‘red carpet’ moment as the interior and its occupants are revealed but, when combined with the sections of roof that open upwards, also enable wonderfully easy ingress and egress.
The sense of wonder continues at the rear of the car. Set into the very wide clamshell rear hatch, is a thin and elegant light strip that cleverly hides the source of its illumination. Light is beamed downwards and then reflected out, so that the actual LEDs are hidden from the viewer. This not only gives a very clean look to the light, but also lends an air of magic to its operation, turning the functional into the fantastic.
Another practical yet sleekly pleasing element of the Aston Martin Lagonda All-Terrain Concept’s design is the rear shelf, which slides out from the floor. Hidden, flush with the body when stowed, the shelf extends when required in order to offer a platform for occupants to perch on. Given the extraordinary views that the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept can transport its occupants to, it seems only right that it should offer somewhere for them to sit and survey the landscape.
The interior of the vehicle develops many of the bold design elements first seen in the Vision Concept, but while that possessed a rear-seat-biased limousine atmosphere, the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept has a more even-handed ambiance spread between all four seats. So, while there is still the option of rotating the two front seats to face the rear two during autonomous operation, there is a greater expectation that the vehicle will be controlled by the driver during the journeys that it will undertake.
Overall there is a darker, more nocturnal treatment to the colour and trim choices. When considering the materials and mood of the cabin, the intention was that it should feel like a seamless transition between the vehicle and the owner’s home. ‘We imagined that the owner would be a sort of pioneering yet environmentally conscious person’ said Aston Martin EVP and Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman. ‘They may well have a luxury villa in a remote place that acts as their sanctuary. As such, the Lagonda brand is unconstrained by the traditional values of current luxury products, it is not about wood and leather, we tried to design the interior to feel very calm and quiet with soft, natural materials like Cashmere. Lagonda reflects a future that is full of unique materials that are not set in the past.’
Feelings of time and space are also attributes associated with luxury and as such the interior of the Aston Martin Lagonda All-Terrain Concept does its utmost to enhance those aspects. The lines and focal colours inside the car draw upon techniques known since the masters of the Renaissance in their ability to draw the eye and utilise perspective. Also, key is the view out, which is expansive in that it draws the eye not only to the front and sides but also upwards. This allows the occupants to look both along streets or valleys and up to the buildings or peaks surrounding them.
Technology is an important but subtle part of the interior. Thanks to clever and considered integration, there isn’t the usual punctuation of vents, grilles and speakers. However, that’s not to say that everything is hidden. While the technology exists in this day and age to allow the key to be removed altogether, Lagonda believes that it remains an important point of contact between the driver and the vehicle. As such, the key is celebrated and indeed elevated in the interior of the Lagonda All-Terrain Concept. Thanks to the wonder of electromagnets, the key floats when it is placed in position, levitating between the front seats.
