1938 Lagonda V12 Drop Head

This Lagonda, built in January 1938, is the first of the V12-engined Rapides. The 4.5-liter V12 was designed by W.O. Bentley after he left Rolls-Royce. This car, believed to be one of just 12 Rapides built to this design as a drophead coupe, was sold to the building magnate and car collector Sir Alfred McAlpine, who used it regularly until 1955. During a service visit to the Lagonda works in 1941, it was fitted with the four-carburetor setup used by the Lagonda team cars at LeMans in 1939. It has since spent decades in both the United States and Europe, and was owned for a time by Lord Anthony Bamford. At one point, it received a ground-up four-year restoration, but in recent years it has rarely been shown in public.

Shortly after Rolls-Royce acquired the Bentley Company, W.O. Bentley moved to Lagonda. While at Lagonda, Bentley created a V-12, 60-degree engine with modern overhead valves with a single overhead camshaft for each cylinder blocks. The engine was durable and lightweight, being created from numerous special metals. The engine was placed within a box-section frame with independent torsion-bar front suspension and hydraulic drum brakes.

Two V-12 Lagonda's raced at Le Mans in 1939 with Sanction II engines, with four carburetors apiece, and achieved 3rd and 4th overall and 1st and 2nd in Class.

Total Lagonda V-12 production reached 187 examples. Seventeen were built to the Rapide specification on the shortest 124-inch wheelbase chassis. Twelve of the cars had a drophead coupe body, drawn by Frank Feeley and produced in-house.

It is believed that this was the first Rapide drophead coupe produced. It was finished in 'mushroom' with a green leather interior and delivered in October 1938 to Alfred James McAlpine. Mr. McAlpine returned the car to the Works in 1941 and upgraded with the so-called Sanction II 'Marine' upgrade, which included a revised firing order, and an intake manifold with four SU DAL carburetors.

Arthur Ormsby acquired it in December 1955. It moved to the United States in the early 1960s, and by November of 1961, it was in the ownership of Stephen A. Lincoln of New Jersey. It was eventually acquired from Mr. Lincoln's estate sale in 1983 by an individual in Massachusetts. Approximately two years later, it was sold to Dr. Terry Bennett of New Hampshire. In 1991 it entered Knox Kershaw's collection.

In 1997 it was purchased by Dr. Winfried Kallinger of Austria, who commissioned a restoration. The car was eventually sold the car to Lord Bamford, who had the body and interior refinished to the present color scheme of dark green over ivory. Mechanical work included overhauling the carburetors, rebuilding the throttle bodies, fitting new brake linings and hoses, and overhauling the centralized chassis lubrication system.


More recently, the V-12 Rapide became part of an American Lagonda collection and was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in 2017, earning 1st in Class honors. In 2018 it was shown at the Concours d'Elegance at Hampton Court Palace.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2019