When an owner sets out on the journey to customize a classic car, their level of bravery can be judged against two separate criteria. The first is the make and model of the car that they have chosen to customize. The second is the style of customization they have chosen to pursue. I think that when measured against these criteria, choosing to convert an Aston Martin Lagonda into a Shooting Brake must rate as a pretty brave move. The general fit and finish of the vehicle suggest that the work has been completed to a high standard, and now is the opportunity for someone to park the Lagonda in their garage. It is located in Monterey, California, and is listed here at RM Sotheby’s. The Aston is being offered with No Reserve, but the pre-auction estimate is $150,000 – $200,000.

It has often been said that when William Towns locked himself away to design the Lagonda, he only took a piece of paper, a pencil, and a ruler with him. To that, I would probably add that he found a coin in his pocket because otherwise, the wheel openings would have finished up as sharp and square as the rest of the car’s design. Over the years, attempts were made to soften the design, and by the time that the Series 3 cars emerged, some of the sharp edges had been removed. This particular car is a Series 3, and with only 75 cars built, it is a fairly rare beast. It is also an interesting choice of vehicle on which to base a custom project. The color of the Lagonda doesn’t appear to be original, as there were no shades of grey offered by Aston at this time. It looks to be a shade called Cumberland Grey, which is quite attractive in itself. The fit and finish of the custom work look to be first-rate, but the styling looks a bit “off” to me. The design brief was to transform the Lagonda into a Shooting Brake but to retain as much of the car’s original rear-end styling as possible. The inspiration for the design was derived from the one-off Shooting Brake that was designed and built by Roos Engineering, in Safenwil, Switzerland, in 1996. While they have managed to generally achieve the styling aim, it has led to a compromise in the shape of the rear side glass, which looks out of place with the rest of the styling. That glass almost looks like an after-thought, and even makes the rear of the vehicle appear as though it is sagging slightly. Of course, that is personal opinion, and there will certainly be plenty of people who like the styling.

It is pretty hard to find fault with the interior of the Lagonda, and it is all pretty traditional Aston fare. This means that many trees and cows have made the ultimate sacrifice to provide the materials for the sumptuous interior trim. There’s probably not a lot of point in discussing the originality of the interior in a car like this, but what I will say is that it is loaded with luxury. In addition to the normal air conditioning, power windows, power seats, and cruise control, you can add a CD player, a TV and VCR for the rear passengers (concealed in a timber-fronted cabinet), and even a drinks cabinet, complete with crystal decanters and glasses.

The driver gains all of his information from a vacuum fluorescent display, while there are still plenty of soft-touch controls for various functions within the vehicle. The electronics in early Lagondas were the source of much heartache within Aston Martin. The company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy when the design for the Lagonda was in progress. What they required was a vehicle that was relatively cheap to design, easy to manufacture, and would sell in respectable numbers. Unfortunately, on these three points, it was, it wasn’t, and it didn’t. The design was easy enough, but the development of the electronics was the stuff of nightmares. The company was committed to the development of a gas plasma display, touch-sensitive controls, and other ground-breaking electronic, causing development costs on this technology to blow out enormously. In fact, the ultimate cost for developing the electronics massively exceeded the amount that the company had budgeted for developing the entire car. To add insult to injury, these electronics also proved to be horrendously unreliable. So fraught with drama was the development, that even though the car was unveiled in 1976, and the orders rolled in, the first production car wasn’t delivered until 1978, and even that one didn’t actually run or drive. Eventually, actual production commenced in late 1978, but the car still faced many issues with the electronics throughout its life. Another indication of the sheer scale of the problems facing Aston Martin revolved around vehicle build times. While their Aston Martin V8 took around 1,200 man-hours to construct, the Lagonda took a staggering 2,200 man-hours. This meant that the company was left with no choice but to market the vehicle as a premium product. It is all of these factors that explain why the car that Aston Martin had developed as its intended volume-selling car only managed to achieve a build total of 645 cars between 1978 and 1990.

Powering the Lagonda is a fuel-injected 5,340cc DOHC V8 engine, while the engine’s 280hp finds its way to the rear wheels via a 3-speed TorqueFlite transmission. The engine in the Lagonda was shared with its sister car, the Aston Martin V8. Squeezing this engine under the hood of the Lagonda was a triumph of engineering and ingenuity because the low nose of the Lagonda not only meant that the engine had to be moved well back in the engine bay to clear that low hood, but the entire intake system also required redesigning. Many journalists found the performance of the Lagonda to be very disappointing, but Aston was quick to point out to these journalists that the Lagonda was a luxury car, and if they wanted a performance car, then they were welcome to drive an Aston Martin V8 instead. This car comes with a significant amount of documentation, including a comprehensive service history. Sotheby’s don’t indicate how well the car runs and drives, but given the amount of money the current owner will have invested into the vehicle, you would hope that it runs and drives well.

We’ve seen some pretty funky customizations here at Barn Finds over the years, but this car would appear to be in a league of its own. There can be no doubting that the fit and finish of the entire car is first-rate. However, a Lagonda is an unusual choice for a project. Having said that, a pristine and original 1987 Lagonda can be yours for around $70,000, while an average one can be had for as little as $45,000. If this car sells for around the auction estimate, then perhaps the owner has done himself a financial favor by undertaking this custom work.