The project was never green-lit, and the concept was stashed away until someone rescued it.
In 2009, Aston Martin and Mercedes-Benz were just beginning their partnership, and one of the first project ideas to come from the duo was a high-end luxury SUV. It was called the Lagonda Concept, and it made its debut at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show to kick off the revival of the ultra-premium Lagonda nameplate. The project was never green-lit so the Lagonda SUV never actually came to be. However, you can own the one-off concept car that debuted in Geneva via Collecting Cars.
The auction listing has very little information about the car, only claiming that a full description is “coming soon.” It’s unclear who the current seller is, so we reached out to the OEM.
An Aston Martin spokesperson told The Drive that it’s customer-owned at the moment, so someone bought it from Aston at some point and is now parting ways with it. However, since it was built as a concept car, the spokesperson said that it’s not drivable on the road—or at least it was while it was with Aston Martin—though the customer may have modified it.
The Lagonda Concept was meant to be built on the Mercedes GL-Class platform and borrow the same 4Matic all-wheel drive system. Despite its Mercedes underpinnings, though, the Lagonda Concept packed Aston Martin’s glorious 5.9-liter V12 under its hood, the same engine that powered the DB9 and DBS. At the time, Aston Martin said it would also offer more efficient alternative powertrains, such as hybrids and even diesels.
It’s a strange-looking SUV, though, and nowhere near as pretty as the DB9, DBS, and Vantage of that time. It has a semi-familiar Aston Martin face, and its fender vents are very DB9-like, but the rest of it is unusual. It has the most awkward C-pillar and rear deck I’ve ever seen and its trunk lid looks Aston Martin pulled it off of a Bentley Flying Spur. And it’s even weirder inside, where its windswept styling is both messy and claustrophobic. Of course, it’s just a concept car, but I’m not sure any of its design screams luxury. Well, aside from the furry seat backs. Is that wool?
Aston Martin would never go on to make the Lagonda SUV, and its eventual Lagonda sedan ended up just being a multi-million dollar reskinned Rapide. The whole point of the Lagonda brand was to allow Aston to make cars that were more luxurious, more practical, and less sporty than its normal cars, without diluting the brand image. Instead, it scrapped the Lagonda name altogether and just made the Aston Martin DBX, which is much better looking, anyway.
There’s no telling what this Lagonda Concept will sell for, as there isn’t any precedent for a one-off concept car with zero miles that might not even be street legal. It just comes down to how much someone is willing to pay to own such an odd piece of British automotive history. Whoever does end up buying it will have something truly unlike anything else. It even says “Handbuilt for Geneva 2009” on the engine’s valve cover. Some fancy-named Lord will likely pay a nauseating figure just for that exclusivity alone.
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