CC Commentator Alistair posted this superb 1952 Loagonda at the CC Cohort, which he obviously shot at the parts store. We can hope the owner was looking for something generic, rather than a generator or a set of points. Alistair was a bit uncertain about the exact year, so he did some detective work, and found a link to a complete write-up on this very car (well, how many are out there anyway?) Here’s the whole detailed story. Which also says that there are still 28 of these registered, out of 511 built. Some highlights after the jump, as well as another great shot.
From that site:
The first new automobile produced by Lagonda after its purchase by David Brown in 1947 was the 2.6-Litre. It was named for the new high-tech straight-6 engine which debuted with the car. The so-called Lagonda Straight-6 engine was designed by W. O. Bentley and would propel Lagonda’s new parent company, Aston Martin, to fame. The 2.6-Litre was a larger car than the Aston Martins and was available as either a 4-door closed car or, from 1949, a 2-door convertible “Drophead Coupé”, both with 4 seats. The drophead was originally bodied by Tickford and finally by Lagonda, at the time not part of Aston Martin. A Mark II version appeared in 1952, in closed form only, with engine power increased to 125 bhp. The car sold reasonably well, in spite of being an expensive car and being launched so soon after the war, with 511 examples made, when production ended in 1953. Only 28 are still registered. There were 125 of the post war convertibles produced, only 12 are left and only 16 Saloons. The car had a separate chassis and all independent suspension using coil springs at the front and torsion bars at the rear. At introduction it was believed to be the only all-independently sprung British car. A drophead version tested by The Motor magazine in 1949 had a top speed of 90.2 mph (145.2 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 17.6 seconds. A fuel consumption of 17 miles per imperial gallon (17 L/100 km; 14 mpg-US) was recorded. The test car cost �3,420 including taxes. The Pound Sterling at the time was about $ 3.00/Canadian or $ 9,000.00
They also point out that the Lagonda’s 2.6 L DOHC six was the engine that powered the Aston-Martin DB2, which also enjoyed considerable success on the racing circuits of its time. Great find, Alistair!
Rare car alright 26 must be UK survivors. I recall one of the fitters at the power station I worked at rebuilding an engine for one of these we had an extensive machine shop and lots of skills on tap so some rare and exotic machinery passed thru there in between turbine overhauls.
Wow, actual, presumably non-decorative landau irons, before they became an ornamental fetish of the Brougham era.
“Oh, my Lagonda? I use it as a parts chaser for my Jaguar and Land Rover. The Lagonda is just so more reliable.”
(yeah I know this isn’t Curbside Caption, but that seems an appropriate caption for the first picture.)
Thanks for posting the pics Paul. Where I live (North Saanich, on the south end of Vancouver Island) there are a few rarities that come out of hiding once in a while. I’m now in the habit of keeping my camera in the car. Just to the right of the NAPA store is a small shop that specializes in Brit car restorations. It might be that the Lagonda owner was busy there. That shop, “Owens Automotive” has some jewels inside, but as they are not on the curb/kerb, no piccy 🙂
alistair
Just an example of the diversity around here, about 1.5 km up the road I caught this Volvo C304, and a wee Daihatsu van in the foreground.
alistair
i’m glad you posted the photo of the c304, alistair. i spied the vehicle below in norway last summer. i notice that it has a volvo box in the back. does anyone know what it is? it looks pretty similar to a volvo c303.
Jeez, it almost looks like a c202 but some details appear different.
alistair
It’s a L3314N with a fiberglass hard top.
The C202 is the civilian version of the military L3314, the “N” stands for “Norwegian” because it was actually built in Norway (form the Volvo parts).
They look different mostly because the L3314 was made around 1965 while the C202 was made around 1980 – it has been modernized 🙂
Interesting find! I wonder if the “number left” figures come from the British DVLA, there is somewhere you can find how many cars of any given model are still registered. Of course this does not account for cars that are not on the road, whether complete/running or not.
As for parts chasing, a friend told me a funny story from the ’60s when he had a Morgan; he needed axle bearings and went to the local parts store asking for Morgan axle bearings (understandably), only to get a response along the lines of “Morgan, what’s that? We don’t have any of those”. Came back out and told his mate who was waiting in the car, who said “watch me”.
He took the bearings, walked inside and placed them on the counter, saying nothing. The guy behind the jump took one look at them, turned around and took two bearings from the shelves behind him. Of course the Morgan had a common-or-garden Ford (English) rear axle!
It looks like a taller XK120, if you told me it was a Jaguar, I would have believed it, though, I am a sucker for some reverse opening doors and a drophead roof, proper british motoring.