Although this car is something of a one off, the

Six speed manual transmission was an option for the 2011MY but it appears that only two examples were ever built. Both were sold in the USA.

The stunning luxury super saloon revives the Lagonda ethos of ‘the finest of fast cars’ is to be built using lengthened VH architecture from the existing Rapide S and will be offered exclusively in the Middle East, apparently as a result of ‘specific market demand’.

The new car, perhaps surprisingly, has drawn inspiration from the William Towns-designed ‘wedge’ Lagonda (1976 – 1990) and features many of the same cutting edge engineering techniques seen in current Aston Martin sports cars such as the use of carbon fibre in the body panels. These carbonfibre reinforced panels (CFRP) are ideal for cars with short production runs and will use an Aston Martin patented coating to achieve a flawless and highly polished surface.

The engine will almost certainly be the current AM29 spec V12 already being used in the Rapide S and Vanquish. This should allow the new Lagonda to reach a top speed of around 190 mph; 175 has already been recorded during testing in Oman. The Lagonda has a wheel base of 3189 mm with is an increase of 200 mm over the Rapide thus offering rear seat passengers a significant increase in legroom, perhaps as spacious as a Rolls Ghost or S-class Mercedes.

The return of the Lagonda marque and the as yet formally un-named  ‘Project Comet’ follows in the wake of other specialist projects such as the One-77, V12 Zagato and the 2013 CC100 Speedster Concept, a car already regarded as the ultimate Q by Aston Martin car.

It will be hand-built by the finest craftsmen and women at Aston Martin’s modern manufacturing facilities in Gaydon, Warwickshire in a dedicated building previously used for building the One-77 and V12 Zagato.

The first official photos of ‘Project Comet’ were of the Jet Black preproduction car whilst undergoing hot weather testing in Oman during late summer 2014.

The new super saloon will be offered for sale by invitation only to discerning customers who are seeking the ultimate in luxury and personalisation. AM have not revelled the potential asking price but have stated that it will be ‘commensurate with the car’s exclusivity, quality and luxurious nature.’ Or using my vocabulary, this is a classic example of ‘if you have to ask the price, you cannot afford it’. It is understood that solid gold switchgear will be a suitably expensive option.

The Lagonda 2015MY ‘Super Saloon’ shows best the direct influence of the 1976 William Towns ‘wedge’ Lagonda in this side view

Deliveries are anticipated to begin in early 2015 and should be completed before the end of the year. Production is anticipated to be no more than 200 or so examples.

The specific details of the DB9 Morning Frost are below

• Touchtronic 2 gearbox
• Standard exhaust
• 19 inch 10 spoke silver diamond turned wheels
• Silver brake calipers
• Clear tail lamps
• Magnum mesh bonnet, side strake grilles, lower front and rear grilles
• Standard tail pipes
• Metallic bronze leather leather interior with fine Bitter Chocolate stitch and perforated seat inners (coupe and Volante)
• Metallic bronze leather headlining with centre stitch (coupe only)
• Brown or Black hood with Ivory headlining (Volante only)
• Full width Piano Black facia, door handles and door cappings
• Standard Instrument surround and graphics
• Metallic bronze leather steering wheel and gearshift paddles
• Glass corporate switches
• Standard tread plates with ‘Morning Frost’ model name inserts

This particular example was photographed at the 2011 Geneva Salon

There are two distinctive services, Q by Aston Martin-Collection and Q by Aston Martin-Commission. The Q Collection offers a range of exclusive off-the-shelf options that are available when ordering a car and don’t require an additional build lead time. These might be paint and leathers from the exclusive Q collection range, or perhaps an additional carbon fibre tailored detailing. Some carbon fibre parts can also be specified as a Q Accessory after production. This flexible service is extremely popular with customers, with as many as a quarter of the Aston Martin cars featuring some element of Q.

Q by Aston Martin-Commission takes personalisation to an entirely new level. Here, clients can build their very own individual Aston Martin sports car, taking a journey that involves a close collaboration with the design team. These projects are often complex to create and are truly bespoke. Being fully customised, they carry a longer build lead time, but the end results are spectacular.

The Amethyst Red DB9 Volante, pictured above, featured prominently on the Aston Martin stand at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show. The interior was finished in Obsidian Black over Kestrel Tan with Piano Black facias

The Gen4 VH architecture features significant changes to the underbody structure from the early cars which principally includes the lowering the engine by 19mm. This has mainly been done for compliance with the latest European Pedestrian Protection regulation without resorting to the need for complex deployable systems as seen on current Jaguar sportscars for instance. That said, lowering of the engine has contributed to lowering the centre of gravity of the DB9 as a whole improving handling and driver response. The ‘new’ DB9 Volante has a 30% increase in stiffness over the original Volante model, it is also a useful 15 kg lighter too.

As with the later versions of the previous DB9, the Gen4 DB9 Volante is only available with Touchtronic 2 transmission. Manual transmission was not even an option any more.

Production of the standard DB9 Volante ended in the summer of 2015, the car being replaced by the more powerful DB9 GT Volante.

The launch car, a pre-production prototype, was finished in the special DBS colour of Lightning Silver with Chancellor  Red interior and featured the standard 2+0 seat configuration with the manual gearbox. It was quite some time after production started that the DBS could be specified with occasional rear seats, described as 2+2 and Touchtronic 2 automatic gearbox.

This DBS exactly matched the version seen in Casino Royale; much like a DB9 on which the car is closely based but with considerably more menace, and a 510 bhp version of the familiar V12 engine. Many Aston Martin ‘firsts’ are also attributed to the DBS such as the carbon ceramic brakes, adaptive damping and carbonfibre composite body panels used for the boot enclosure, boot lid, door opening surrounds, front wings and bonnet.

Another pre-production car has survived in the hands of AML. This particular car was shown at Gaydon during Centenary Week and visitors were allowed indeed encouraged to leave messages on the car with permanent marker pens.

Production of the DBS began in late 2007 with the first customers receiving their cars just in time for the spring of 2008.