GALLERY: Lagonda Taraf lands – only one in Malaysia

Back in 2015, we reported that the Lagonda Taraf, Aston Martin’s flagship luxury limousine, would be available for sale in Malaysia. Well, the first (and so far only) unit has finally arrived on our shores, and if the well-heeled among you were thinking of snapping it up, you’re way too late – the car you see here has already been sold to an unspecified buyer.

Happily, prospective customers will be able to order one from Aston Martin Kuala Lumpur if they so wish, although the company was “unable” to disclose its price. We’d assume it would be stratospheric, however, given that the base price in the United Kingdom is a whopping £696,000 (RM3.8 million) – more than a Rolls-Royce Phantom (in Extended Wheelbase form, no less) and a Bentley Mulsanne combined.

And you certainly won’t be paying that price for one, not when the Q by Aston Martin bespoke service offers near-limitless customisation options on top of that – sure to drive the cost sharply upwards. Still interested? You’d better be quick then, as the Taraf is “strictly limited” to 200 units.

Essentially a larger, more capacious version of the Rapide, the Taraf’s sleek, yet angular design was inspired by the controversial William Towns-designed 1976 original. Slim headlights flow into the massive front grille to give the car an aggressive scowl, while the thick upright C-pillars – designed to provide the kind of rear headroom the svelte Rapide could only dream of – and upswept rear end also reference the seminal sedan.

Much of the Rapide’s interior remains here, with a minimalist (if a bit dated now, coming without the DB11‘s more modern Mercedes-Benz-derived infotainment system) dashboard, four full-sized bucket seats and a full-length centre console that extends to the rear seats.

As expected, this particular unit comes with a number of personalisation options that set it apart from other Tarafs. The 20-inch ten-spoke alloy wheels, for example, are finished in the same champagne gold paint as the exterior, and while the tan and brown interior colour scheme won’t be to everyone’s tastes, the seat quilting and the embroidered Lagonda badge are gorgeous nevertheless.

Built on the VH aluminium architecture and wearing carbon fibre body panels, the Taraf is powered by Aston’s venerable 6.0 litre naturally-aspirated V12 punching out 550 hp and 630 Nm of torque, all sent to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission. Performance figures include a zero-to-100 km/h sprint time of around 4.4 seconds and a top speed of 280 km/h.

So, is it a taraf above the rest?

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