Autoblog

James Garner was hospitalized last week after suffering a mild stroke at his home. Garner's publicist told the AP that the 80-year-old actor is doing well and should be home soon. While Garner's acting career has produced a lengthy and diverse body of work, for a lot of us here at Autoblog, it's hard to think of Jim Garner and not think of Jim Rockford and his gold Firebird Esprit. We're sure there's also no shortage of readers who instantly associate him with his starring role in John Frankenheimer's Grand Prix, hailed by many as the greatest racing movie of all time. Garner was also very active in motorsports in real life, owning American International Racing from 1967-69. He has raced on and off-road, and was inducted to the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame because of his role in elevating the stature of that particular branch of motorsport in the late sixties and early seventies. He's also driven the Indy 500 pace car three times. So, regardless of whether you know him best as Maverick or Jim Rockford, remember also that James Garner's historically a car guy. We wish him well and hope he has a speedy recovery.

[Source: AP via CNN, TV Squad]

As an automaker best known for its voluptuous, curvy coupes, the Aston Martin Lagonda is a knife-edged enigma. The origami aggression of its exterior, its tech-laden interior, along with the sheer scale of the thing (over 17' long) must've made it look like an aluminum-skinned spaceship when it hit the show scene in 1976. Launched with a 5.3-liter Weber-carb'd V8 (and clunky Chrysler three-speed automatic), the performance didn't completely deliver on the Lagonda's avant-garde visuals, though it was allegedly capable of 140 mph. Naturally, the Lagonda's habitually troublesome electronics and quality-control issues didn't stop at least one Autoblog staffer from falling in love with its impossibly futuristic shape collection of angles.

(click through to the jump for an interior shot, more details, and the link!)