Ce Dream-car bien réel va susciter l'admiration lors de sa présentation, le 27 mars 1980 à l'Hotel Bell d' Aston Clinton et ce, malgré une gestation assez compliquée. La Lagonda Saloon à peine présentée en 1976, les enthousiastes nouveaux propriétaires de la marque demandent au styliste, les mains encore pleines d'argile, d'imaginer ce que pourrait être une Aston Martin superlative. William Towns, toujours aussi conciliant, va se pencher sur cette requête avec des idées directement inspirées de sa dernière création toute fraiche.
   Ainsi, les (recti)lignes, les plans lisses et les angles vifs de la Lagonda issus de la mode du edge design initié par quelques maitres italiens (Gandini et son Alfa Carabo 1968) à la fin des sixties sont repris sur cette supercar gaillardement motorisée : V8 biturbo, 600 cv et maitre couple reduit propulsent ce dream-car dans une réalité plutôt décoiffante : 307 km/h !
   William Towns, originellement architecte d'intérieur, dut être assez fier du "cockpit startrekien" de sa Lagonda puisqu'il ressert les mêmes ingrédients électrisants dans ce projet badgé DP K9.
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   It would take until 1978 for Aston Martin to genuinely register a positive company result since its inception by Robert Bamford and Lionel Martin in 1913.
   Much had changed during the intervening years, including the amalgamation of Lagonda in 1947 under the leadership of David Brown.
   But by 1978 the future of the marque looked much better than it ever had, and so Company Director Alan Curtis gave the green light for the construction of a prototype – a car that would serve as a symbol of the marques quest to look to the future and demonstrate innovation like no other.
   A grandiose plan indeed, one that would take two years from conception to production, and one that would create arguably the ugliest Aston of all time, the aptly named “Bulldog”.
   The design was the work of stylist William Towns, who had penned all Astons sine the wonderful DB6; and the Bulldog was not without innovation, it being the first ever mid-engined Aston.
   The car bore a strong resemblance to the 1976 Lagonda, but featured even flatter and squared-off angles.
   The Bulldog was powered by the wonderful Aston Martin V8, with additional turbo-compressors supplied by Garrett.
   Aston would never reveal the cars actual power output, but it is rumored to have developed 600bhp at 6500rpm, and been good for a top speed of over 325 km/h.
   Naturally Astons reluctance to release official power figures started the rumor mill working, a common thought being that the development was only undertaken after the project was underwritten by a wealth Sheik from the Middle East.
   Apparently the Sheik never took delivery, it being sold to another wealthy businessman in the Emirates. Whoever he is, he remains the lucky owner of the only Bulldog to have ever been built!
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