THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LAGONDA...

...and so much more. Peter Tomalin celebrates the life and works of a remarkable design talent - with special guest stars from Aston Martin, including DBS V8 and Bulldog 

We’re on a Shropshire hillside, late summer, awaiting three significant cars. Our muster-point is populated by dog walkers, ramblers and the odd commercial traveller enjoying the views over a coffee cup. Suddenly, heads swivel as the lightly muffled roar of a big V8 announces the arrival of an early-70s Aston Martin DBS; seconds later, one or two of the ramblers pause mid-step and stare as the impossibly long, chiselled form of a Lagonda saloon follows it in. And now everyone’s attention is laser-locked as the Earth-skimming spaceship that is the Aston Martin Bulldog appears amid a crackling cacophony of sound. The youngest of these cars is more than 40 years old, yet their power to shock and entrance is undiminished. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the world of William Towns.

Bill Towns, as he was often known, is probably best remembered for the Lagonda wedge’, the outlandish four-door saloon that wowed the crowds at the 1976 British Motor Show. His name has also been back in the media with the re-emergence of the spectacular Bulldog supercar, another of his designs, fresh from a painstaking restoration. But there was so much more to Towns. Away from the automotive arena, his work embraced everything from lawnmowers via furniture to water sculptures. Within it, as well as Aston Martin Lagonda, he worked for Rover, the Rootes Group, Reliant and Jensen among others, and became a maker of kit cars with the innovative Hustler.