El Segundo, California—The cute waitress at our favorite Mexican joint, El Gringo, puts our plates in front of us, smiles, and asks, “So which of you owns that car?” nodding toward the silver 2016 Vanderhall Laguna sitting out front. “And when are you going to finish building it?” She doesn’t get that the $77,000 Vanderhall Laguna is fully built and buttoned up, no doubt confused by the fact that the funky little roadster has only one wheel in the rear. We think back to our morning drive, smile, and say, “Honestly, we were just wondering the same thing.”
It’s Morning Again
It reeks of smoky, smoldering ash as we drive the Vanderhall Laguna Crystal Cove Edition up Angeles Crest Highway just north of downtown L.A., seeing how forest fires just burned through thousands of acres of trees in the surrounding area. The long brown hair of our lovely passenger whips against our neck, her shoulder pressed against ours; the Laguna has more than enough legroom but very little shoulder room due to the cabin’s teardrop shape.
Steve Hall, head honcho at Vanderhall, spent several years forming and reforming the quirky Laguna in the shadow of similarly strange three-wheelers like the Morgan 3-Wheeler. But the Laguna uses front-wheel drive, unlike most three-wheelers, so why three and not four? Three-wheel vehicles are designated as motorcycles, so they don’t require the same rigorous and costly crash testing procedures. Vehicles like this are solely objects of desire, something you want but don’t need. Slightly ironic seeing how their three-wheeled forebears, cyclecars, came about when post-war Europe needed cheap transportation. The Laguna is anything but cheap; the base model starts just south of $50,000, a “Sport Premium” model costs $58,850, and this Bespoke model, created “for the customer that wants what they want, how they want it”, is spitting distance from the most impressive sports cars on the market.
Good Feet, Bad Breath
We stare at the smooth silver body through one of the Laguna’s small, circular, café racer-style mirrors. The aluminum chassis and tub are wrapped in hand-laid carbon-fiber body panels, and we’re thinking how cool it would’ve been had Vanderhall simply clear-coated car. The Laguna is unique and strangely alluring, especially when you look at it from the front end, which is capped by a big, black-slat grille with two bug-eye headlights. We rest a hand atop one of the brushed aluminum roll bars that sit just behind the deep and narrow cargo space that we shoved our bags into. The cabin has handsome carbon fiber trim and mushy heated leather seats juxtaposed with tacky, off-putting interior keystones plucked from the Chevrolet Sonic parts bin. Our passenger grabs our phone and uses the Spotify app to change the music coming through the simple and novel Bluetooth audio system that requires no head unit.
The climb up Angeles Crest gets steeper; short gears in the 6-speed automatic transmission mean a lot of clicks on the shift paddles. We carry as much speed as we can through corners because doing so is not only extremely enjoyable, seeing how the trike’s adjustable pushrod suspension, wide front track, and foot-wide rear tire have no problem holding the roughly 1,600-lb roadster on the road, but it also helps us forget that the turbocharged 1.4-liter inline-four, also sourced from the Sonic, has a frustrating flat spot at around 4,000 rpm. Vanderhall does software updates to the GM powertrain, but no mechanical modifications, so it could be the byproduct of a boost leak. It’s infuriating when all-out acceleration stalls in the middle of the rev range — but not nearly as annoying as the noises you have to endure driving the Laguna.
A Horrid Cacophony
Imagine hurricane winds coming through a small crease between your living room walls, the howl you’d hear from the lead singer of a hair band if you gave him a titty twister, or what Satan whistling would sound like, and you have an idea of the aural assault you endure during a drive in the Vanderhall Laguna. Coasting, the car is very quiet, and light taps on the accelerator prompt the turbo system’s blow-off valve to push out excess air, creating a seductive whooshing sound. But under full load, the quad-tip stainless steel dual exhaust yells indignantly as the little engine shrieks painfully. We don’t often shy away from loud cars, being quite boisterous ourselves, but the noises coming from the Laguna make us uncomfortable and ruin then open-air driving experience.
The unnerved look on our passenger’s face says it all. We turn around and, as we roll back down Angeles Crest, we leave the Laguna in neutral and use gravity to keep momentum up. Aside from tire noise and an Arctic Monkeys song coming through the surprisingly clear stereo system, it’s silent as we continue enjoying the Laguna’s planted and direct handling. Suddenly, washer fluid starts spraying all over the front of the car, maybe because of a clogged back-flow valve, but we couldn’t care less as we head back toward the coast for lunch at our favorite Mexican joint.
Back to Building
The conversation has focused solely on the Vanderhall Laguna since the waitress said what she did. What we’ve decided is that any ground-up endeavor in the automotive world should be applauded, even if it’s not exactly successful. The Laguna needs polish, a more defined purpose, and a much, much lower price tag. In November, Vanderhall will release a toned-down, no-door version of the Laguna with a base price of $29,000, so that’s a start. The company is also actively expanding its dealer base in anticipation of the new model, so teething problems should be easier to address. We’ll see what Vanderhall can do its little Laguna with a bit of learning beneath its belt but for now, we’ll finish our overflowing quesadillas and hope the ringing in our ears goes away before the cute waitress comes back to drop the check.
2016 Vanderhall Laguna
On Sale: Now
Price: $49,950/$77,000 (base/as-tested)
Engine: 1.4L turbocharged DOHC 16-valve I-4/200 hp @ 4,300 rpm, 200 lb-ft @ N/A rpm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Layout: 2-door, 2-passenger, front-engine, FWD roadster
EPA Mileage: 24/32 mpg (est)
LWH: N/A
Wheelbase: N/A
Weight: 1,600 lb (est)
0-60 mph: N/A
Top Speed: N/A
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