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The classic car market is dreadful for sellers currently. For discerning buyers, however, it’s the gift that keeps on giving (although, for how long, I wonder).
Anyway, this sale resulted in a fabulous bargain for a well-known and respected AMOC and LC member. Many congratulations to him.
TL
“One has to view them as luxury saloons in the vein of Bentleys rather than GT cars like Astons.”
Not so, Richard. They are consummate GT cars – very quick, at least with a 4-speed manual, with great handling (de dion rear end). Try catching one in a contemporary Bentley – even a DB4 would have to work hard.
Bugger! Missed that one and I would have had a go. I wonder what was paid for the bits and who acquired them?
$168,000? What a bargain for someone.
Me too. 😀
Hi Colin,
I was wondering about the fate of this special. Have you any photographs to share, please?
Atb,
Tim
“I also like the company of fellow Club members. So I definitely represent what is wrong with a significant cohort of the current membership. Importantly, I do not care.”
Try as I might, I simply cannot understand your point of view, Colin. In what way does liking the company of fellow members have any bearing at all on my observations? You seem to have construed the totality of what I have had to say as some sort of objection to such membership per se when, in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, the key issue for me is that some members appear to be dead set against any kind of change, whether directed at trying to recruit from younger generations of Lagonda fancier or not. In other words, let’s just jolly along doing things in the same way that they have been done for the last 3 or 4 decades.
So far as I am concerned, a stark choice lies ahead for the membership. Put very crudely, we either change or the Club will die out with the majority of its current membership. Is that what you want to see? If earlier generations had not encouraged you along the road to ownership and clubmanship, would your hobby have been as enjoyable for you today? I think not. All I am saying is that times change and we must adapt to and with them if we want to grow and thrive.
The membership card initiative may assist in a small way in this regard – or, it may not. The issue is not the utility of the card but the attitude towards it, I fear.
DavidLG45’s response demonstrates most eloquently (and I say this with respect, of course) what is ‘wrong’ with the attitude of a significant cohort of the current membership. I will respond following the order in which David has made his various observations:
1. I think that David Bracey and I have already explained the purpose(s) of the plastic cards. In brief recap, they are (in no particular order of importance) – (i) to help present a modern and professional ‘face’ to the world; (ii ) to foster a sense of ‘belonging’ among (in particular) the new, the young/younger, and the overseas membership; (iii) to act as a conduit so that members may take advantage of offers secured on their behalf by the committee; and (iv) to act as an ‘entry ticket’ to future events designed to attract the attendance of non-members.
2. It seems to me that good comparable clubs are not Jag/MG but rather ‘sister’ organisations concerned with luxury British marques, including: AMOC (5.9k); BDC (3.7k); RROC (6.2k); AOC (1.2k); and BOC (850).
3. We should be concerned with attracting not only current long-term / committed owners of Lagondas but also (a) those who are in the process of acquiring their first Lagonda, and (b) enthusiasts who would like to own a Lagonda. However, it is isn’t just about acquiring new members – membership retention is an important concern.
4. The key issue/benefit currently in joining the LC is indeed the spares service. Wonderful though the service is without doubt, it is a matter of deep regret (to me, at least) that little (if any) attempt is made to make the Club attractive in other respects. NB None of the other sister clubs that I mention attempt to be a spares factory and yet they achieve much that we do not (a better member:car ratio, better social, concours and racing events etc. etc.). In the case of the AMOC, they currently have a war-chest of in excess of ?1mil (which means that it can wield considerable financial clout when necessary) and they founded and partly fund AMHT, which has it’s own publications, museum and archives, and provides offices to house its own archivist as well as the AMOC’s offices and staff (including a full-time club secretary).
5. There are very many younger people who can well afford a Lagonda (or two, or three, or..), I can assure you, and oodles in their 40s and 50s.
6. I’m sorry to say that the demographic of attendees at the AGM demonstrates just how vulnerable the LC is currently in terms of achieving oblivion within the next decade or two.
7. The AMOC attracts more post-war Lagonda owners and enthusiasts than the LC – and, that’s without even trying very hard. If they put in the effort required, we’d be wiped out in terms of the post-war cars. God help us if they were to aim their fire at the ‘new’ pre-war ownership.
8. The vast majority of AMOC membership own pre-Gaydon vehicles – some are Bloxham fans but most are from the Feltham and Newport Pagnell car eras. Total AML production up to the end of NP production was circa 14,000 cars i.e. entirely comparable to total Lagonda production of circa 12,600. Same ‘ballpark’, I think you’ll find David.
Thank you David for all your hard work in getting this through the committee and the cards in our hands.
It’s a great idea, in my view, and long overdue. We have static and (I would argue) modest and unsatisfactory membership numbers and most of our members are either already past their ‘best before date’ or heading that way presently (and I count myself among that cohort). I’m sorry to be so blunt but it’s just a fact. We need to both grow and attract membership applications from those born in the 1960s/70s/80s and later. Anything that encourages a sense of belonging is a boon, so far as I am concerned, and I think that good quality membership cards fulfil that primary function very well (in a ‘bangs for bucks’ sense). I also see a useful future practical utility for the cards to act as an entrance ticket to events that are advertised and run for the purposes of attracting the attendance of non-members – a key element missing currently from the Club’s armoury in the battle for membership.
AML is pouring huge resources into the relaunch of the marque. If it is successful, the Club should be in the vanguard of this revival, not trailing in its wake as a mere footnote in Lagonda history soon to fall victim to its own demographic. As it is, AMOC has been stealing a march on us for some time now, not just in relation to what is to come but also in terms of recruiting the post-war Lagonda owner to its ranks.
I’m sorry to read some of the remarks above but not surprised (remotely). In my opinion, those detractors who do genuinely care about the future of the marque and the Club should wake up and smell the coffee. As for the others, well; “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. … and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
Hi Colin,
The LG45 DHC doesn’t have a chassis plate attached. It’s one of the several reasons (I think) that the car has not sold over the last 18 months or so that the Club has known about it’s ‘reemergence’.
Regards,
Tim
Hi Arjan,
I will send you a PM.
Regards,
Tim
I have just been told, from a reliable source, that the ‘orphaned’ LG45 DHC has now been bought by an American chap. I only hope that he knows what he’s doing, since I am more convinced than ever that it was stolen a few decades back.
If anyone has any contact with the purchaser, I’d be glad to share the fruits of my research in this regard.
Agreed Simon, on both fronts.
BEWARE!!!! This LG45 DHC located in the US (i.e. NOT the UK auction Coupe De Ville) has no chassis plate, no clear title, no documentation, and no pink slip. It also has the wrong (an LG6) engine, which Gullwing are trying to say provides the correct chassis number. The Club knows all about this car and its lack of any kind of credible provenance.
The ‘owner’ tried selling it for about 18 months before (apparently) selling it on to Gullwing. I spoke to him myself before the latest stage in this saga.
Every time anyone asks Gullwing an awkward question, their tactic appears to be to try and get rid of them by saying that the car is sold and a deposit taken. That’s what I was told at first and this is what they’ve just said to another LC member only today.
My own opinion is – STAY WELL CLEAR.
Agreed; that’s a good price (if actually achieved). What had he been asking for it, Hermann?