1952 Lagonda 2.6-Litre Drophead Coupé
From 1948 until 1953, Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. manufactured the Lagonda 2.6-Litre Drophead Coupé automobile in the United Kingdom. It was named after the new straight-6 engine that debuted with this automobile following the acquisition by David Brown, who had previously purchased Aston Martin.
This Lagonda convertible was discovered in 2004 after being stored on a farm in England during the early 1960s. The car was rescued and has since been entirely rebuilt from the ground up.
On January 22, 1952, the pleasingly elegant and stylish Lagonda 2.6-Litre DHC was delivered to Cyril Williams Motors Ltd, Wolverhampton, in maroon with a beige leather inside.
Only 511 of these cars were produced, with 125 of them being Drop Head Coupés. Only 20 to 30 vehicles of this model exist today, making it an extremely rare and historic British automobile.
Wilbur Gunn (1859–1920), a Scottish-American and former aspiring opera singer, created the Lagonda Motor Cycle Company Ltd in 1904 in Staines, Middlesex, England. Wilbur obtained British citizenship in 1897 and began working as a speedboat and motorbike engineer in England. Gunn took the name of his new company, the Lagonda Motor Cycle Co., after a fast-flowing river that went past an ancient Shawnee Indian settlement called "Lagonda," which is now Buck Creek in Springfield, Ohio birthplace.
Springfield, Ohio, had become a major manufacturing center for farm machinery by the late 1800s. Lagonda Agricultural Works scenes include men picking grain and harvesting machinery. Around the year 1859.
24 Hours of Le Mans | 1935
The 13th Grand Prix of Endurance, the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans, took place on June 15 and 16, 1935. Johnny Hindmarsh and Luis Fontés drove for the British racing team Arthur W. Fox & Charles Nicholl. They won in a 412 liter Lagonda M45R Rapide. Johnny was killed three years later while testing the Hawker Hurricane I L1652 at Brooklands. During WWII, Luis was killed while delivering a Vickers Wellington Mk1C bomber to the RAF.
Luis Fontés
Johnny Hindmarsh
The motorcycles Wilbur originally built on a small scale at his home in England had some success by winning the 1905 London–Edinburgh trial that was an annual ride of the local Motor Cycling Club from London to Edinburgh that had to be completed in under 24 hours. The race would become the predecessor to "24 Hours of Le Mans," which is the world's oldest sports car endurance racing since 1923 near Le Mans, France.
In 1907, he launched his first car, the 20-hp, 6-cylinder torpedo-bodied car. During WWI, he focused Lagonda's production efforts on making artillery shells for the British Army.
Gunn's initial automotive efforts met with popularity and success until he died in 1920. Lagonda would build sporting machines through the 20s and grow in popularity with their M45R Rapide winning the 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans. Still, the company ran out of money shortly after, and the receiver was called in selling the company to Alan Good.
24 Hours of Le Mans | 1935
The 1935 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 13th Grand Prix of Endurance and took place on June 15 and 16, 1935. The drivers were Johnny Hindmarsh and Luis Fontés who raced for the British racing team Arthur W. Fox & Charles Nicholl. They won the race in a 4½ liter Lagonda M45R Rapide. Three years later Johnny was killed while test flying Hawker Hurricane I L1652 at Brooklands. Luis was killed during WWII while delivering a Vickers Wellington Mk1C bomber to the RAF.
Luis Fontés
Johnny Hindmarsh
W. O. Bentley and the majority of Rolls-former Royce's racing designers and engineers he recruited began developing a new straight-6 engine for the Lagonda company towards the end of WWII. Bentley had just completed his three-year mandatory tenure with rival Rolls-Royce, who bought his Bentley Motors company after it went into voluntary liquidation in 1931.
David Brown, who had recently purchased Aston Martin, was drawn to the Lagonda 2.6-liter, six-cylinder, twin-overhead-camshaft engine. In 1948, he bought the Lagonda company, forming Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. the following year. The new engine design launched Aston Martin to prominence and wealth as a British sports and racing car manufacturer.
Lagonda straight-6 engine
Lagonda's Coachbuilder
During the production of the 2.6-Litre vehicle, the coachbuilder Tickford began to play an increasingly prominent role as body supplier to certain major car builders, notably Aston Martin and Lagonda.
Tickford's firm developed to be a significant coachbuilding business founded in the 1820s by Joseph Salmons, afterward known as Salmons and Sons at Tickford. David Brown acquired Tickford Limited in 1955.
Frank Feeley, the man responsible for instilling the DB2's Italianate flare, was one of Lagonda's and David Brown's most valuable assets. The Lagonda's automobile style inspired Feeley's 2.6-Liter design before the war years.
Feely rose to prominence by creating a fresh design for the LG45 Rapide and the Lagonda V12, which debuted at the 1939 New York Motor Show.
It was described as: "The highest price car in the show this year is tagged $8,900. It is a Lagonda, known as the "Rapide" model, imported from England. The power plant is a twelve-cylinder V engine developing 200 horsepower."
Feeley and the rest of his Lagonda design team began working for David Brown's Aston Martin company when David Brown acquired Lagonda. His first project at Aston Martin was the DB1, and he went on to design the 1949 Le Mans racer, which used the newly acquired Lagonda 2.6-Litre engine and would eventually evolve into the DB2.
The Art of David Brown's Lagonda Advertising
Auto Vino rare and exotic car storage is proud to preserve and protect the heritage of British Motorcars in a museum-like setting to display beautiful examples of Art-on-Wheels for those who have a passion for rare, exotic, and fast cars, and for those too who don't.
The car presented here is privately owned and not for sale.
