We’ve recently seen pictures of the US$28 million bespoke Rolls-Royce Boat Tail but few have heard of the Lagonda Taraf, a US$1m car from Aston Martin that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in 2014.

The Lagonda name came about in 1906 by Wilbur Gunn and a Lagonda won the 1935 Le Mans. The first luxury Lagonda came about with the Rapide in 1939, which sported a V12 engine.

Bankruptcy ensued after WWII but Aston Martin purchased the troubled brand in 1947. It wasn’t until 2008 that it was announced the brand would be returning, and the plan was its first car would be an SUV.

However, it ended up being changed to the four-door Taraf sedan (perhaps partly as Aston Martin introduced the four-door Rapide sedan in 2010).

The Lagonda Taraf (which means “ultimate luxury” in Arabic), was thought up as a concept by Aston Martin with a build 100 cars, primarily for the Middle East market. 

The precursor to the Taraf was the four-door 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda, which ran until 1990, and was Aston Martin’s flagship. 

The 1976 Lagonda was a groundbreaking car of its time and still looks futuristic today (although Bloomberg Business Week called it one of the 50 ugliest cars of all time). It had a “folded paper” look to it, which was in vogue with the likes of the Lamborghini Countach of roughly the same era.

The 1976 Lagonda had complex electronics, including a digital dashboard (one of the first of its time). The electronics development was said to have cost more than four times the entire budget of the rest of the car. 

It had a 5.3-litre V8 engine, running through a Chrysler three-speed automatic, putting out 209kW and could do 0–100km/h in 6.2 seconds. 

A total of four upgrades (Series 1 to Series 4) ensued over the Lagonda’s lifetime before it was shelved in 1990, with 645 cars built.

Hello 2014 and Aston decided it was time for another swing at the ultimate accolade, with the debut of the Taraf. With a 5.9-litre 402kW V12, running through an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission, Aston Martin used the already luxurious Rapide platform but added 7.9 inches to it, mainly in the rear passenger seat. 

The body, like the Rapide and the DB9, was made of carbon fibre reinforced plastic, with seven layers of paint finishes. It could hit 314 km/h and polish off 0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds.

It had all the toys of the Rapide but at more than five times the price, naturally the leather was more premium on the seats (and the roof), but there was no denying that the “value for money” equation was somewhat distorted for the Lagonda. 

It was far and away more expensive than the top models from Bentley and Rolls-Royce. 

The Lagonda Taraf was built for the Middle East market, however when later CEO Dr Andy Palmer came on board in 2015 he upped the production plans to 200 and expanded the model’s distribution from the Middle East only to the USA, Singapore and South Africa. A total of only 120 though would end up being built and most ended up in the Middle East.

Aston Martin extended invitations to existing and target owners, so it was apparently impossible to buy one just by walking in off the street. Refinement wasn’t befitting of a million dollar car, with the steering being lively, the engine vocal, the ride firm and there was a higher than expected level of road noise.

That said, money no object, the Lagonda Taraf looked the part to some (and was hideously ugly to others). Personally I like it, although it's hard to see it being five times better than the Rapide. However, that's not the point. If you can, and you want to, you could buy the ultimate.

In 2021, we’re seeing the same philosophy with the likes of the Rolls-Royce Boat Tail and other bespoke high end models being produced by upper luxury manufacturers, to go after the limitless top end of what people can possibly spend.