1938 Lagonda Drop-Head Coupe

by Steve Favill

This beautiful machine is a 1938 Lagonda. It has a 4.4 litre V-12 engine designed by no less an engineer than W.O. Bentley. 

These cars were competing with Rolls-Royce for the performance crown, and were reputed to be capable of accelerating from walking speed to over 100mph in top gear.

​They had an advanced chassis and hydraulic brakes, and were unquestionably some of the best-looking cars on the road.  They are heavy cars, weighing in at around 5,000lbs. They made less than 200 of these before World War Two came along and it all ground to a halt. Lagonda is currently owned by Aston Martin.

I took this photograph in 2008, at Milwaukee's Masterpiece Classic Car Show. Held each year in late August, the city's lake-front plays host to a mind-boggling array of machinery and is always well worth a visit.

Jay Leno owns a Lagonda, a racing version but with a similar engine and chassis and talks about the company and the cars in this video. It would be really interesting and entertaining even if it were someone else presenting the information but Jay is a true car guy and he knows his stuff. Enjoy!
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