A few days ago we learned through Oman’s national airline that Aston Martin is sending the first test units of the new Lagonda to this small Middle Eastern sultanate for road tests and weather acclimation. After all, this car is being developed exclusively for the Gulf countries. Now the first official images of the car have been released, showing the car doing its thing in Oman.

‘Glorified Rapide’ may or may not be the right combination of words to describe the new Aston Martin Lagonda. But the truth is, it is quite refreshing to see a bespoke, coachbuilt model that isn’t a wide and low super car. It is a big and imposing luxury sedan; like it’s 1930’s again! Who cares if the Lagonda is a Rapide S underneath as long as it looks so cool?

To be fair there is more to Aston Martin Lagonda than just a fancy dress over the Rapide’s body. For starters, the Lagonda is going to be more powerful with over 600 horsepower on tap. What’s more, the body is fashioned from carbon fiber, which means despite its size the car is actually fairly light and should be able to hit 60 mph form rest in 4.2 seconds.

The first Lagonda test units will stay in Oman for about a month, covering thousands of test miles before getting shipped back to the UK for further development work.