The Bite Magazine - Autumn/Winter 2019 - Issue 26

bite cars Angeles to San Francisco, London to Edinburgh, or even Berlin to Vienna without stopping. It is also designed to be compatible with the latest wireless conductive charg- ing technology. Its electric drive system provides an intelligent all-wheel-drive that is capable of delivering anything from 100 to zero percent of available torque to any given wheel according to demand. To achieve this revolutionary challenge, Aston Martin will remain faithful to the for- ward-thinking, ever-adventurous spirit of Wilbur Gunn, the Anglo-American engi- neer, and entrepreneur who founded Lagonda in a greenhouse at his home in Staines in 1904. He named the company after the Lagonda Creek river that ran through the town of Springfield in his native Ohio. Thanks to a trailing arm rear suspension and a form of monocoque construction (before it was adopted by the world’s car manufac- turers) his 16/18hp model won the Moscow to St Petersburg trial in 1910. Before being bought by Aston Martins in 1947, Lagonda became one of the most cov- eted and versatile car brands in the world, simply because Wilbur Gunn refused to accept that the current way was the only way. In the 1930s, Lagonda was capable of producing V12-powered limousines fit for royalty and sports cars strong and quick enough to win Le Mans as they did in 1935. After the sale, they continued to innovate the Aston Martin Lagonda of the 1980s and 1990s, still, one of the most audacious and strikingly styled cars ever designed. Modern Lagonda products will be inspired by these pioneering designs and, like them, steadfast in their focus on the future. “We see no limits for Lagonda,” said Palmer, “it will be a brand for the restless, for those who are anything but happy with the status quo. It will produce cars that exploit technology, without being obsessed with it for its own sake. And it will enable Lagonda to redefine the concept of luxury within the automotive and other spheres.” “The car has been the greatest liberating force humankind has invented, and at the time the journey was as important as the destination. All that has been lost over the last 100 years. Wherever you are in a Lagonda, whatever the journey and whichever seat you occupy, it will re-introduce you to the wonder of travel.” www.lagonda.com