1954 Lagonda DP115 Sports Racer

This Lagonda race car was the third of three made at the behest of David Brown to employ an all-new 4.5 liter V12 engine and compete with the new range of 'super sedans.' The initial car, DP115/1, raced at Silverstone but crashed at Le Mans. This car, DP115/3, was built and readied for the 1955 Mille Miglia but did not race there. Instead, along with its sister Lagonda (DP115/2), this car (DP113/3) was sold to the Rank Organization and starred in the movie Checkpoint (1956). This Lagonda was then bought by AML Works driver Noel Cunningham-Reid and finally by Lagonda enthusiast Maurice Leo, who eventually also acquired the sister car. Reunited with its original engine, this car has been carefully restored to be largely as it was in 1954 - but it bears the distinctive three-piece grille that was previously seen only on DP115/1, and it has an improved crankshaft bearing design to eliminate the oil pressure loss problem of these cars when new.