By no means a Curbside Classic, this one-off is interesting and I think, worth a mention.
Another review from R&T’s 1980 July issue, Can you spot future Astons in this concept?
I found it hilarious that Paul Frere drove this behemoth around Mallory Park race track, which might be the most out-of-place venue for such a car.
The slot tail lights returned on later Aston Martins, but I don’t see anything else that made it from the Bulldog to the road.
A lot of the late 80s Lagonda seemed to be inspired by that design. A car I actually like. This concept seems a bit more origami inspired.
The Lagonda series 2 came out in 1976 though, well before the Bulldog.
This.
The Lagonda came several years before the Bulldog. And quite the final sentence is about – suggesting that AML had acquired MG from Leyland – who can guess?
Looking into that, it appears that in 1980 Aston Martin tried to take over British Leyland, as mentioned here:
http://www.mgexp.com/article/aston-martin-mgb-prototype.html
It is interesting that they mention zero luggage space; it looks like the large brown bulkheads behind the seats should be able to accommodate something.
Thanks for posting, it was good to read the story behind this car.
To clarify this point, in 1980-1 as Leyland planned to close the MG factory in Abingdon and suspend the MG brand, Aston led a consortium to try to buy the MG brand and factory, and created the prototype johnh875 links to. It featured an MGB GT windscreen on a roadster along with some cosmetic changes.
Ultimately the plans went nowhere. If BL figured there no business case at $2.40/£1, then there probably wasn’t for any one else either, almost certainly working on lower volumes and dependent upon BL for key items, like engines and body shells, and with disruption to the distribution network as well.
Cheers Roger, I’m glad it was their words that were astray and not me going crazy. I wasn’t following the auto industry that much when those events happened!
There is also the factor that the basic MGB was getting on 20 years old at that point, and was (over)due for replacement if it was going to be a competitive product. I wonder if this prototype still had a pair of 6 volt batteries for example.
No worries John. The narrative on the link was a bit off, to say the least.
These ideas often seem attractive, but when you think the at the MGB was by then the only user of the B series engine for example and would have needed a lot of work to accept the O series (or anything else) and BL’s decision starts to make business sense. You can only dress up a 20 year car a certain amount
And would BL have ever sold the brand “MG”? I doubt it somehow.
My “go to” site for BL history is http://www.aronline.co.uk – an absolute treasure trove of BMC/BL data and history. These links are relevant to this part of the story
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/mg-cars/mgb/the-cars-mgb-development-history/
http://www.aronline.co.uk/blogs/cars/aston-martin/for-sale-one-off-mgbaston-martin-prototype/
Is it the pictures here or does this car have EXTRA long doors? That shot of the side makes it look like it should have 4 doors.
I’ve seen pictures of the Aston Martin Bulldog, and I found it attractive from every angle except the taillights. They make the rear of the car ugly.
To me it looks like a wooden slot car. Almost like something we would have built in middle school shop class.
Or the kind of cars we drew pictures of in the back of our notebooks in 8th grade math class.
This car still exists somewhere, in private hands….I remember it coming up for sale in the DuPont Registry in the 80’s. Its like a bizzaro English Countach.
It looks like a designer’s conception of a two-way Studebaker for the post-DeLorean 1980s.
Here’s the inspiration…
Thanks for scanning and posting this! I have had a picture book with a section on the Bulldog since I was a kid. I haven’t gotten it out in years, but it’s safe to say that there are more pictures and information on the Bulldog in this article than there are in my book.
I used to think that the Bulldog was really cool, but less so now that I know more about it and have seen more of the car. It definitely does have a home-built or movie prop look about it, not helped by the expansive flat body panels and wheels sticking out beyond the wheelwells.
This seems like something the hero might’ve driven in the 1983-84 TV show Automan, but he actually drove a Lamborghini Countach.
http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_2309-Lamborghini-Countach-LP-400-1974.html
It looks like a bad drawing
Couldn’t they have provided the designers with a French curve as well as rulers and T- squares? It’s interesting to note that the Lagonda sedan and even the main Aston coupes and convertibles were quite unattractive at this time. It seems that traditional heritage based styling cues were considered old hat and the future belonged to these brave new designs. Luckily in our post modern period there has been a return to heritage based designs. Who could criticize the Jaguar XJS after looking at that thing? This looks like something a bulldog would have left on the lawn.
It’s uglier than a bulldog chewing a wasp. I have a French bulldog but he’s cute and ugly at the same time. there’s nothing cute about this car