ASTON MARTIN BULLDOG

[grober]

Aston Martin Bulldog ends 45-year wait to smash the 200mph barrier

Fabled Aston prototype nails the super speed it set out to achieve all the way back in 1979

www.topgear.com

 

[grober]

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The front end of the Bulldog featured five centre-mounted hidden headlamps.

The Bulldog is powered by a 5.3L V8 engine with twin Garrett turbochargers that produces 600 bhp (447 kW; 608 PS)—the engine was capable of 700 bhp (522 kW; 710 PS) on the test bed—and 500 lb⋅ft (678 N⋅m) maximum torque.[6] When it came out, Aston Martin claimed the car was capable of 237 mph (381 km/h), but the fastest speed the car was recorded doing 191 mph (307 km/h) during a test run at the Motor Industry Research Association track in late 1979. The wedge-shaped design gave the Bulldog a drag coefficient of 0.34.That's probably what let it down

In 1979, Aston Martin Built A Twin-Turbo Wedge That Could Reach 191MPH

Remembering Aston's ultimate roadgoing supercar, straight from the Seventies.

www.roadandtrack.com

 

[whitenemesis]

One of the ugliest Astons, along with the Lagonda

 

[Dryce]

One of the ugliest Astons, along with the Lagonda

The Bulldog didn't look too bad - back in the day.

The Lagonda feels very American - more along the boxy saloons of the early eighties but streamlined. You'd think it was something out of early 80s Detroit rather than Newport Pagnell.


In general I don't think William Towns designs in that era were that good to start with though they probably felt bold at the time they were being conceptualised commissioned. They haven't aged well.

 

[ALFAitalia]

The Bulldog is ugly to my eyes....but I loved the old Lagonda!........Just a pity the the electrics were so far ahead in design that no one kew how to make them work properly!!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

The Bulldog is ugly to my eyes....but I loved the old Lagonda!........Just a pity the the electrics were so far ahead in design that no one kew how to make them work properly!!

I love the Lagonda - used to see them in period at Hersham and Walton Motors all the time. They have one at the Schlumpf Collection and the tag said that they were so expensive (the most expensive car at the time apparently) partly because the dash used components from the F-15 Eagle. Id not heard that before. That was the earlier ones i think before they moved back to analogue clocks because of all the electrical problems?

 

[whitenemesis]

The Bulldog is ugly to my eyes....but I loved the old Lagonda!........Just a pity the the electrics were so far ahead in design that no one kew how to make them work properly!!

It just reminded me of the Princess, with a boot stuck on!

 

[Stratman]

For car gauges I much prefer analogue to digital. With digital numbers, you have to take your eyes off the road and search out the number, then you need to know what's good, what's acceptable and what's cause for concern. An analogue gauge can be seen in peripheral vision and as long as the needle is approximately vertical all is good.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

It just reminded me of the Princess, with a boot stuck on!

Ha ha - that's basically my first car - identical! Princess Special Six (mine was auto). 2.2l straight six on twin SU's with crazy hydragas suspension. (I was gifted it from my folks as it was their old car - they moved onto a Volvo). With the hydragas you could change the ride height so of course i had mine lowered a bit! Sorrel velour interior - the one above looks the same inside as well.

 

[ChrisHGTV]

For car gauges I much prefer analogue to digital. With digital numbers, you have to take your eyes off the road and search out the number, then you need to know what's good, what's acceptable and what's cause for concern. An analogue gauge can be seen in peripheral vision and as long as the needle is approximately vertical all is good.

Yes and even better you can orient the tacho so max rpm is at 12 O'clock for an easy visual.

 

[Dippo]

For car gauges I much prefer analogue to digital. With digital numbers, you have to take your eyes off the road and search out the number, then you need to know what's good, what's acceptable and what's cause for concern. An analogue gauge can be seen in peripheral vision and as long as the needle is approximately vertical all is good.

I find it's just a matter of what you get used to. When I got my E Class in 2017, the display gave me the choice of analogue or digital; I chose digital, and I don't think I would ever go back by choice. With the various speed limits there are these days, the rough position of the needle isn't a good enough clue for me.

 

[Darrell]

In 1983 we moved into a huge shithole of a house in an expensive road in Mill Hill. The houses there now are nudging £1.8 milllion.

Opposite our place lived a family of Nigerians. The were in paint and chemicals back home and just had the house in our our road as a place for their heads whilst in Europe.

They had a lovely blue AM Lagonda and I remember my dad asking them how it went, the reply was “as good as it looks”.

There’s a wealthy English guy who has an enormous car collection. I think he made his fortune in lock-up garages (LUGS) and in his inventory has about 25 Lagondas.

 

[JHS]

One of the ugliest Astons, along with the Lagonda

Towns has a lot to answer for!

 

[ChrisHGTV]

In 1983 we moved into a huge shithole of a house in an expensive road in Mill Hill. The houses there now are nudging £1.8 milllion.

Opposite our place lived a family of Nigerians. The were in paint and chemicals back home and just had the house in our our road as a place for their heads whilst in Europe.

They had a lovely blue AM Lagonda and I remember my dad asking them how it went, the reply was “as good as it looks”.

There’s a wealthy English guy who has an enormous car collection. I think he made his fortune in lock-up garages (LUGS) and in his inventory has about 25 Lagondas.

I think i saw an article on that guy last year somewhere. I can't remember many details but remember all his Lagondas. I love them - to me they epitomise the 80's excess even more than the whale tail 911 Turbo or Testarossa! On a par with the Countach maybe.

 

[Darrell]

I think i saw an article on that guy last year somewhere. I can't remember many details but remember all his Lagondas. I love them - to me they epitomise the 80's excess even more than the whale tail 911 Turbo or Testarossa! On a par with the Countach maybe.

Definitely.

 

[grober]

One of Europe's biggest car collections has 25 Aston Martin Lagondas

If you worked hard, made lots of money, and found yourself in a position to acquire lots of cars, what would you hunt down?The Aston Martin Lagonda probably doesn't come to mind—unless you're Roger Duddling. His personal collection of cars now spans over 500 vehicles, making it one of the...

www.motorauthority.com

Rodger Ian Dudding is a British business magnate in the self-storage industry. Nicknamed "Mr Lock Up" by customers and "RD" by staff, Dudding owns more than 12,000 garages and as of February 2015 was worth an estimated £162 million, making him "the largest private owner of garages" in the United Kingdom. [WIKI]

 

[grober]

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[Mickw212]

Towns also gave us this DBS V8 which is still one of my lottery dream cars

 

[ChrisHGTV]

Towns also gave us this DBS V8 which is still one of my lottery dream cars

One of my Dads friends inherited a very rare DBS Shooting Brake. I have to say it was very ‘agricultural’. I’ll be honest, although I love the style of the V8 Astons it felt so out of place on the road, like it really belonged in a different era/World which I guess it does in a way.

 

[whitenemesis]

The manual boxes in the Vantage variants were from trucks, very agricultural.
My lasting memories from riding in the earlier Aston Martins was the ability, under acceleration, to lock the retractable seatbelt. My BiL would pull away so fast that I couldn't pull the belt out to secure it! Oh, and how tyre smoke would enter the cabin on drifting fast corners, not very refined...