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1952 Lagonda 2.6 L

Drop Head Coupe by Tickford

Lagonda is a very British make, founded in Staines, Middlesex, England, in 1899 by an expatriate American opera singer, Wilbur Gunn. Mr. Gunn had previously built motorcycles for a living. The car is named for a creek in his hometown of Springfield, Ohio.

Lagonda had been a part of Aston Martin since 1948, when Lagonda was purchased by David Brown, the manufacturing conglomerate that had purchased Aston Martin in 1947. David Brown needed a new motor for Aston Martin. The new 2.6-liter twin overhead cam six-cylinder engine was the last design of W.O. Bentley. It became the basis of the Aston Martin engines of the 1950s and eventually grew to 3.0 liters.

Other engineering features include hemispherical combustion chambers, a fully synchronized three-speed gearbox, four-wheel independent suspension, and inboard brakes. The top speed was 75 MPH. The entire production of this 2.6-liter DHC from 1948 through 1952 was 118 units. This car was restored by RTM Restorations in 2013.

The Lagonda Company was founded in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex, by American Wilbur Gunn, a former opera singer with a Scottish background. He named the company after the town of his birth, Lagonda Creek, near Springfield, Ohio. At first, Gunn built motorcycles in the garden of his home, and in 1907 he introduced his first car, the 20 hp, 6-cylinder Torpedo. He used this car to win the Moscow-St. Petersburg trial of 1910, which influenced exports to Russia until 1914. In 1947 the Lagonda Company was taken over by David Brown. Brown had also bought Aston Martin in Feltham, Middlesex.

Production was restarted with the final model from W. O. Bentley, the 1947 2.6-Litre Lagonda. Becoming the basis for the Aston Martin engines of the 1950s, the 2.6-liter was powered by the new 2,580 cc twin overhead cam straight-six. Walter Owen Bentley was responsible for the new high-tech straight-6 engine, which would further propel Lagonda's new parent company, Aston Martin, to infamy.

Available as a 4-door closed car, the 2-6 Litre was a bigger car than the Aston Martin models. In 1949 the car was available as a 2-door drophead coupé, with seating for four. Tickford was responsible for the coupé's body and at the time, wasn't part of Aston Martin. In 1952 a Mark II version, in closed form, was introduced. The engine power was bumped up to 125 bhp.

Believed to have been the only all-independently sprung British car, the 2.6-Litre had a separate chassis and all-independent suspension that used coil springs at the front and torsion bars at the rear. The vehicle used rack and pinion steering and featured sophisticated features Lockheed brakes with 12-inch drums at the front and 11 inches at the rear-mounted inboard.

In 1949 The Motor magazine tested a drophead version and estimated it had a top speed of 90.2 mph and could achieve 0-60mph in just 17.6 seconds. The 2.6-Litre had 17 mpg and cost around £3,420, including taxes or $5,669 U.S. dollars. Despite carrying a higher-than-average price tag, and being introduced so soon after the war, the 2.6-Litre sold quite well. The end of production in 1953 produced around 510 units.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagonda_2.6-Litre

http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/lagonda/unspecified/1636319.html

by Jessican Donaldson