Forum Replies Created
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Not the first auction house I’d approach to sell this.
It will be very interesting to see if it goes for around that level, or stupidly higher.
What a shame the number plate is being touted, let’s hope whoever buys is interested in the car as a whole, and not asset stripping.
Laurence
Hi,
This car certainly has a certain presence, it’s not unattractive but it lacks the lightness of touch of Feeley’s designs. But then Lagonda didn’t offer an fhc….I wonder what one might have looked like.Agree a well chosen paint scheme would help no end, two tone to make it look longer and thus less “heavy”.
I often feel that prewar car designers just lost interest when it came to the rear of their cars, and sadly this one is unimaginative in that area. The dash…hmmm…looks a bit like something you’d find in a kit car, but of course that’s not a fair comment as those didn’t afflict the car world in 1939. Certainly brave of Hooper, would love to see what the dash looks like in the flesh.
My own LG6 special (fortunately unpainted aluminium) has sat outside unmoved for the past 4 years…not 12, admittedly, but the chrome all still looks fine. This car has at least been under cover…and it looks like that?! This is why I could be convinced it has been encourage to decay.
The low mileage could … just… mean dismantling, checking and reassembling the mechanics. But then, my own V12 supposedly has only covered circa 53000 miles, and despite a new engine at 13000 miles in 1945, rebuilt by Thomson Doxey in 1952, it still needed total rebuild. Didn’t I read somewhere V12s are supposed to do 100,000 miles easily, without needing work?
Laurence
I remember seeing this car at the Ellard auction. I thought at that time, the first owner had been Dick Watney.
Interesting to see that this has the standard air silencer, but with 4 stubs for suit the carburettor set-up. I wonder if that silencer was a modification by Ellard, or as built by the factory. Also note twin Scintilla Vertex magnetos instead of the usual Delco Remy coil & distributor ignition.
Strange to see bonnet side louvres, in addition to the standard grille….wonder if it suffered from overheating. It does have the aluminium exhaust cowls, which I understand were expensive to produce, so only retro-fitted by the factory if the owner complained about overheating.
But…what’s the story here? Someone buys this car in 2001 for presumably a relatively large sum….then leaves (encourages even) it to rot?
Perhaps a new development….invest in a perfectly good car, deliberately encourage its decay, then sell it at auction as a “barn find” in a cynical attempt to profit from the daft propopensity of some to pay more for a restorable wreck than a top condition car.
Laurence
Hmm. Surely a dealer in cars of this type can recognise an engine that is clearly too modern for the car concerned?
Err….I think the only connection that engine has with that from an LG6 is the “6”.
I wonder how many punters will be convinced by the nice “LAGONDA 4.5 LITRE” artwork on the rocker cover?
Laurence
Hi Peter,
More significantly, for you and me, I recall watching one of the pre-war or wartime “Saint” series of films, starring George Sanders. In one, he drives a V12 dhc, and the sound of the engine made me wonder if mine would sound like that, once rebuilt. Still waiting to find out!
Laurence
An alternative is a product called “Forlife” which I intended to use once my cars were back on the road, however I understand that Jonathan Oppenheimer had serious problems resulting from using that product in his V12. The Evans product seems to get good press all round…apart from the expense, and concern regarding emergency topping up in the event of, say, hose failure.
I wonder which ingredients justify the substantial price?!Incidentally (and more on topic!), I have to say that I’ve been pretty impressed with Bars Leaks and similar products. Towing our caravan up to a Scottish holiday, our car, a 1964 Rover 2000 started misfiring and overheating. It transpired part of the head had corroded away, letting water directly into a combustion chamber. At low speeds, sucking water in; at high speeds, blowing it out. Bars leaks fixed it, despite the heat and compression pressure. Got us up to, around Scotland, and back to Surrey.
Also, my Lancia Y10 had a miniscule weep from a steel water pipe, the removal of which appeared impossible…so the (stupid) repair was to run the car without antifreeze. After a few years….and naturally, whilst on holiday at Sables d’Olonne, I noticed a big puddle under the car. A core plug had rusted through. A big hole; water poured out almost as fast as I poured it in. Went to the local ? (or is that ??!) shop & bought a tin of stuff. Poured it in with no hope of success…but it did actually seal it. I never did replace the core plug, so nothing but praise EXCEPT forever after, the car ran 10 degrees hotter. Not in itself a problem, other than leaving less margin for boiling over in traffic jams (the radiator fan had seized with rust as it had never previously had need to come on). So…it will tend to clog perhaps narrow passages…such as those in a radiator core.Laurence
That’s interesting. Many years ago I was told that LG45 Rapide registered CAR7 had been owned by Alan Good. Clearly his ownership of DLK— is documented, so if what I was told wasn’t an error, I wonder how many of the other 25 he owned.
He owned my V12 dhc from 1940 to 1946, but I know he owned other V12s, including dhcs, presumably for much briefer periods.
Laurence
Yes, perhaps a cancelled order, taken on by the factory.
Doubtless Lagonda were anxious to get into the carriage trade, so perhaps thought this might suit their marketing, and hoping the war would end sooner.
I would be ruder about the body. A very formal 1933 style top on 1939 wings….it doesn’t work. Mind you RR seemed to have little trouble passing off some abominations in the 50s so perhaps one shouldn’t be too critical.
Laurence
Hi SRD,
Interesting find. My V12 is JPH403, and my uncle owned JPH126, a V12 Rapide, back in the 50s. I’ve wondered about JPH575, as I thought mine was the last V12 built in wartime.
Despite the 1941 registration, this is a much earlier car! The engine is a Sanction 1, the wheel cases have a tail, which 1940 models didn’t, and the bonnet grilles are the coarser pattern commensurate with early V12s. The bumpers are also the (more attractive I think) V-section type, whereas later cars had flat *ish) blade bumpers.
Alan Good sold my car via a dealer in Deansgate in 1946, I wonder if there was some factory connection.Laurence
To be fair, it could be a “library picture”, but if it is, should have been stated as such. I daresay the Thrupp & Maberley body would be noticeably different.
The engine change? Hmmm, if it was that easy, Lagonda would not have troubled building a different chassis to accomodate the LG6 engine. Perhaps a practical conversion for a special; but a car with original coachwork…unlikely I would have thought.Laurence
Hi,
Unfortunately I can’t help with parts, but it looks like you have a rod or cable operated braking system on your Rapide, in which case you will not have brake cylinders on your car. I might be wrong but the casting on the right hand side of your pictured brake backplate appears to be what is termed an “expander”, which I would think means the items you need are therefore the adjusters.Laurence
As no-one else has replied; yes, Lagondas built their own rear axles at this time, so the cw&p would have been made “in house”. That same rear axle carried on right through to the LG6, being beefed up as the cars got heavier and heavier.
The V12 used a Salisbury hypoid rear axle, with much fanfare that this allowed the bodywork to sit lower…..only for the LG6 to use the identical chassis (but longer as the Meadows 6 cylinder was longer than the V12 engine), but retaining the old Lagonda rear axle. Work that one out.Hi Dick,
That might be a good option.
I was thinking of having the loom braided as original, but using plastic colour coded wiring. I’m a stickler for originality, but cotton covered rubber has to be the daftest thing to fit. The rubber degrades, and the cotton fades, if not it gets oily and cleaning less easy. Didn’t realise you could get cotton covered plastic. Admittedly that would look more “correct” but I think I’d prefer the practicality of plastic.
Laurence
Thanks for replies and link.
Removing & sending the original loom sounds best, but it’s a case of finding the time to do that….really what I want is to buy a loom now to collect when I return briefly to the UK in November, then have it ready to swap over.
Making up my own loom; perhaps, but living in France, the logistics would favour buying something ready made, tailored as accurately as possible for my car.
Point taken regarding the use of relays, but I think all my switches are sound. If some prove not to be, I’m quite happy to dismantle and improve them myself.
Laurence