Lagonda

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Lagonda

logo
legal form Limited
founding 1901
resolution 1947
Reason for dissolution Merger with Aston Martin
Seat Staines , United Kingdom
management Wilbur Gunn, Alan Good, David Brown
Branch Automotive industry

Lagonda was an English automobile brand that became known in the 1930s for its success at the Le Mans 24-hour race , later merged with Aston Martin and discontinued as an independent brand in 1964. From 1974 Aston Martin used the name again as a model designation for a number of four-door luxury sedans.

Company history

Wilbur Gunn

Founder of the Lagonda Motor Company - from 1913 Lagonda Ltd. - was the native American Wilbur Adams Gunn (1859–1920). Gunn was born in Springfield , Ohio , North America . He completed vocational training at the sewing machine manufacturer Singer , for which he worked for at least 14 years. Shortly before the turn of the century, Gunn emigrated to Great Britain. He settled in Staines-upon-Thames ( Surrey ), where he founded the Lagonda Motor Company in 1901, which initially began manufacturing motorcycles and motorized tricycles. He derived the name of the company from a river near his hometown, which is called Lagonda Creek in the native language .

The beginnings

Lagonda tricycle (1905)
Lagonda 12-24LC

At the end of 1904, Gunn and AH Cranmer developed a three-wheeler with a two-cylinder engine, a so-called Voiturette , which he also sold as the Lagonda. Three years later, a light four-wheel car with a 1100 cc four-stroke engine that developed 11  hp was built. In the first two decades of its existence, Lagonda manufactured small, more or less standardized vehicles that were located in the middle market segment; four-digit production numbers.

Right from the start, Gunn tried to publicly demonstrate the efficiency of his designs by participating in motor racing events. As early as 1905 he took part in an endurance competition, the London-to-Edinburgh-Trial , with one of his three-wheelers , in which his Lagonda “achieved a top performance”. Despite this and other advertising successes, the company was insolvent in 1907. It was run by liquidators for three years. During this time, Gunn worked for the company and drove the development of four-wheeled vehicles. In 1910, the insolvency administrator sold the Lagonda Motor Company to Wilbur Gunn, who then took over the management again. In 1910 Gunn won a reliability drive in Russia with a Lagonda ; He covered the route Moscow - Saint Petersburg - Moscow in less than 12 hours. This success earned Gunn considerable attention in Russia. The car also met with approval from Russian Tsar Nicholas II , who had himself photographed next to Gunns Lagonda. In the years that followed, Russia became Lagonda's most important export market.

In 1913 Lagonda introduced the Type 11, whose chassis - unusual for the time - formed a unit with the body (so-called unibody ). This construction formed the basis for all Lagonda models produced up to 1926. The type 11.1 had a 1.1 liter four-cylinder engine; its further developments Type 11.9 and Type 12 were equipped with a 1.4 liter engine. By 1926, more than 7,000 copies were made on 11.1, 11.9 and 12.24, of which only half a dozen have survived, according to the Lagonda Club.

Sports successes

Lagonda Rapier, built in 1934

In 1920 Wilbur Gunn died after a long illness. His successors initially continued the design concept that had been initiated before the First World War . In 1926, the 14/60 was the first version of a new model family that had a newly designed 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine with two overhead camshafts. The technically related 16/65 had an engine that was enlarged to 2.3 and later to 2.6 liters. In 1928 a three-liter version was finally added. These models remained in production until 1933 and 1934 respectively.

In the second half of the 1920s and the following decade, Lagonda's sports cars with two- and three-liter engines established the brand's sporty reputation as these cars won a number of automobile races. From 1928 Lagonda entered the Le Mans 24-hour race at the factory. The brand's greatest success was the victory of a Lagonda private team in the 1935 Le Mans 24 Hours . The Lagonda M45 Rapide of John Hindmarsh and Luis Fontés ended a four-year winning streak for Alfa Romeo here . At the time, Lagonda was competing directly with Aston Martin.

However, these victories did not bring economic success. The two and three liter Lagondas did not sell well. In 1934 the company tried to regain a foothold in a lower price segment with the Lagonda Rapier , a compact vehicle with a 1.1 liter engine. The car did not establish itself, however. Only 470 copies were made by 1935.

Turning to the upper class with WO Bentley

Lagonda M45 Tourer
Lagonda V12 (1939)
Lagonda V 12 (1939)

In 1935 Lagonda ran into economic difficulties. The company was up for sale; The upper-class manufacturer Rolls-Royce , which had already taken over its sporty competitor Bentley four years earlier , was also among the buyers . However, Rolls-Royce was outbid by Irish entrepreneur Alan Good, who took over the majority stake in Lagonda in autumn 1935.

Good realigned Lagonda. With new products he aimed at the automobile upper class. A first step in this direction was the Lagonda M45 from 1935, which, like its direct successor, had a 4.5 liter six-cylinder engine from the supplier Meadows . In addition, the production rights to the small rapier were sold; an independent company called Rapier Cars temporarily continued production, but achieved even lower production figures than Lagonda.

As part of the realignment, Good hired the designer Walter Owen Bentley as Lagonda's new technical manager. Under Bentley's leadership in 1936/37, a luxury car with a newly designed twelve-cylinder V-engine, a displacement of 4.5 liters and an output of 175 hp ( SAE ) was built on the basis of the LG5 . With this model, Lagonda competed directly with Rolls-Royce and Daimler . The V12 was available with a standard factory body designed by Frank Feeley ; However, numerous chassis were clad by independent body construction companies at the customer's request. They included Freestone & Webb and Lancefield ; their bodies were often unique. On the same chassis and with a comparable body, Lagonda also offered a six-cylinder version.

There were also sporty offshoots of the V12. At the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1939 , a Lagonda with a twelve-cylinder engine used by the works team took third place overall ( Arthur Dobson , Charles Brackenbury ); a private Lagonda owned by Lord Selsdon and Lord William Waleran finished fourth. Nevertheless, sales of the twelve-cylinder Lagonda fell short of the high expectations. Less than 200 Lagonda V12s were built by the start of World War II .

Unsuccessful restart after the end of the war

Lagonda manufactured armaments during the Second World War. Alan Goods plans for the near future were not to reposition Lagonda in the upper class in the immediate post-war period. In the future, Good saw Lagonda in a niche between Rover and Rolls-Royce. On this basis, the company developed a new in-line six-cylinder engine and a new chassis under the direction of Bentley. Lagonda made a few prototypes before the end of the war, but initially did not resume automobile production for lack of capital and for legal reasons.

The central problem was a legal dispute between WO Bentley and Rolls-Royce over the assignment of naming rights. The trigger was Goods' intention to market the newly designed car as the Lagonda Bentley. A newspaper advertisement published several times in August 1944 already brought the names Lagonda and Bentley into a close relationship. The promotional text indicated that “LAGONDA ​​and WO BENTLEY's designs weren't always big cars”. The names Lagonda and Bentley were printed in a much larger font and the layout was so close together that it gave the impression that “Lagonda Bentley” was the name of a new car model. Rolls-Royce, owner of the Bentley naming rights since 1931, had Lagonda's use of the Bentley name forbidden. The lawsuit ended in 1946 cost Lagonda approximately £ 10,000.

There was a lack of funds for the further development of the new post-war models, which then could not be brought to series production. Lagonda became insolvent as a result of the litigation and fell into bankruptcy in 1947.

Relation to Aston Martin

Lagonda 3 liter (1953-1958)
Lagonda Rapide (1961–1964)
Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2 (1976-1989)

The insolvency administrator sold the designs and the naming rights in 1947 to the entrepreneur David Brown , who had recently acquired the sports car manufacturer Aston Martin. Lagonda's factory in Staines, however, stayed with Alan Good. Brown paid a total of £ 52,250 for the Lagonda package. The main reason for the takeover of Lagonda by Brown was the in-line six-cylinder engine designed by WO Bentley, which, in Brown's opinion, was clearly superior to the outdated four-cylinder engines from Aston Martin: Brown wanted to equip the Aston Martin sports cars with the Lagonda six-cylinder in the future. There he established the brand's sporting reputation in the Aston Martin DB2 and its offshoots in the 1950s.

After the two companies were merged, Brown resumed automobile production under the Lagonda brand in 1948. In contrast to the Aston Martin brand, which was still responsible for open and closed sports and racing cars, Lagonda offered sedate, conservatively designed luxury class coupes and limousines. The first model of the so-called David Brown Lagondas was the Lagonda 2.6 liter with the six-cylinder engine as in the Aston Martin sports car. It was replaced in 1953 by the technically very similar Lagonda 3 liter . After ten years, in which a total of around 800 vehicles had been manufactured, the era of the David Brown Lagondas ended. From 1961 to 1964 there was still the Lagonda Rapide with Aston Martin technology; this very expensive and stylistically not undisputed car was only produced in double-digit numbers.

From 1974 the term Lagonda was repeatedly used as a brand name for different Aston Martin sedans ( Aston Martin Lagonda Series 1 and Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2-4 ). The Aston Martin Lagonda Series 2, designed by William Towns futuristically, was considered an "absolute sensation" and polarized when it was launched in October 1976. Some observers thought it was the most advanced car of its time. Despite many problems, particularly due to the ambitious electronics, the car ensured Aston Martin's economic survival in the 1980s. It stayed in the program until 1989.

Individual vehicles from the Aston Martin Virage were also handcrafted as a four-door sedan and even as a station wagon at the customer's request with the model or brand name Lagonda. However, these handcrafted one-offs never went into series production.

In 2009 there were plans to revive the Lagonda brand from 2012 for a luxury SUV with Aston Martin technology. But this did not happen; the Aston Martin management rejected the plans for an SUV again in the following period.

In autumn 2014 the Lagonda Taraf was presented, a luxury sedan limited to 200 units, which was initially reserved for customers in the Middle East , but has also been sold in other markets, namely in Great Britain, since 2015.

Models

Type engine production Years of construction
20th 3052 cm³ SV 4 cyl. 1906-1913
30th 4578 cm³ SV 4 cyl. 1911-1913
11 1099 cm³ IOE 4 cyl. 745 1913-1921
11.9 1421 cm³ IOE 4 cyl. 4025 1920-1923
12 and 12/24 1421 cm³ IOE 4 cyl. 2250 1923-1926
14/60 and 2 liter speed 1954 cm³ OHV 4 cyl. 1440 1925-1933
16/65 2389 (later 2692) cm³ OHV 6 cyl. 250 1926-1930
3 liter 2931 cm³ OHV 6 cyl. 570 1928-1934
16/80 1991 cm³ OHV 6 cyl. Crossley 260 1926-1930
rapier 1087 cm³ DOHC 4 cyl. 470 + 300 from Rapier Cars 1934-1935
M45 4467 cm³ OHV 6 cyl. Meadows 410 + 53 M45R Rapide 1935
3.5 liter 3619 cm³ OHV 6 cyl. 65 1935
LG45 4467 cm³ OHV 6 cyl. Meadows 278 + 25 rapides 1936-1937
LG6 4467 cm³ OHV 6 cyl. Meadows 85 1938-1940
V12 4480 cc DOHC V12 189 1938-1940
2.6 liter 2580 cm³ DOHC 6 cyl. 510 1948-1953
3 liter 2922 cm³ DOHC 6 cyl. 270 1953-1958
Fast 3995 cm³ DOHC 6 cyl. 55 1961-1964
Aston Martin Lagonda 5340 cc OHC V8 645 1976-1989

gallery

  • Engine of a Lagonda 12-24LC 1925

  • Lagonda 16/80

  • Lagonda 16/80 Cabriolet

  • Lagonda 2 liter (1932)

  • Lagonda LG 45 Rapide, built in 1936

  • Lagonda V12 Le Mans, built in 1938

  • Lagonda V12 Le Mans Coupé with Lancefield body

  • Lagonda LG6

  • Aston Martin Virage Lagonda (1993)

literature

  • Andrew Noakes: Aston Martin fascination . Parragon, Bath 2006, ISBN 978-1-4054-7900-4 .
  • William Presland: Aston Martin V8 . Crowood Press 2009. ISBN 978-1-84797 066-4
  • Rainer Schlegelmilch, Hartmut Lehbrinck, Jochen von Osterroth: Aston Martin . Verlag Könemann 2005. ISBN 3-8331-1058-9 .
  • Andrew Whyte: The Aston Martin and Lagonda. Volume 1: Six-cylinder DB models . Motor Racing Publications, London 1984, ISBN 0-900549-83-1 .

Web links

Commons : Lagonda  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andrew Whyte: The Aston Martin and Lagonda. Volume 1: Six-cylinder DB models . Motor Racing Publications, London 1984, ISBN 0-900549-83-1 , p. 10.
  2. ↑ Brief description of the Lagonda 12-24 on the website www.lagondaclub.com (accessed on June 3, 2015).
  3. ↑ Image of a V12 sedan with body from Freestone & Webb on the website www.bonhams.com (accessed on June 4, 2015).
  4. ↑ Overview of the Lagonda prototypes from the 1940s on the website www.db-lagonda.com , accessed on June 4, 2015.
  5. ↑ For this in detail William Presland: Aston Martin V8 . Crowood Press 2009. ISBN 978-1-84797 066-4 , p. 9 and the description of the legal dispute on the website www.db-lagonda.com (accessed on June 4, 2015).
  6. ↑ Andrew Noakes: Fascination Aston Martin . Parragon, Bath 2006, ISBN 978-1-4054-7900-4 , p. 30.
  7. ↑ William Presland: Aston Martin V8 . Crowood Press 2009. ISBN 978-1-84797 066-4 , p. 9.
  8. ↑ astonmartins.com: Aston Martin Lagonda prototype, 1976
  9. ^ Giles Chapman: Aston Martin. Waits & all . Brand history in: Octane Classic & Performance Cars, October 2013 issue, p. 90
  10. ^ A b Robert Coucher: Four by four. Four Seater Aston Martins . In: Octane Classic & Performance Cars, issue April 2010, p. 60 f.
  11. ↑ William Presland: Aston Martin V8 . Crowood Press 2009. ISBN 978-1-84797 066-4 , p. 58.
  12. ↑ auto, motor and sport: Aston Martin Lagonda (1976–1989)
  13. ↑ autobild.de: Aston Martin Lagonda
  14. ↑ Online article "Aston Martin Lagonda - The British Luxury SUV Vision for 2012 in Detail" by Auto-Motor-und-Sport from May 1, 2009 ( Memento of the original from February 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: Der Archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.auto-motor-und-sport.de
Aston Martin models timeline since 1948
Type / engine David Brown era 1947–1972 Various owners From 1986 to 75%, from 1993 to 100% part of Ford Independently
1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0 1 2 3 4th 5 6th 7th 8th 9 0
Microcar Cygnet
Luxury limousines Lagonda 2.6 L. Lagonda 3 L Lagonda Rapide Lagonda Fast
Taraf
Sports car R4 DB1
R6 DB2 DB2 / 4 DB4 DB5 DB6 DB7
DB2 Vantage DB4 Vantage DB5 Vantage DB6 Vantage
DB4 GT Zagato DBS Vantage
V8 DBS V8 V8 Virage V8
V8 Vantage V8 Vantage V8 Vantage Vantage
V8 Zagato
V12 V12 Vantage
DB7 Zagato V12 Zagato DBS GT Zagato
DB7 Vantage DB9 DB11
DB7 AR1 Virage
V12 Vanquish DBS Vanquish DBS Superleggera
One-77
SUV DBX
Prototypes and GT racing cars DB2 DBR1 DP212 DP214 RHAM / 1 DBR9 V8 Vantage GT2 / GTE Vantage GTE
DB3 DBR2 DP215 DBRS9 V12 Vantage GT3 Vantage GT3 / GT4
DBR3 V8 Vantage N24 / GT4
EMKA AMR1 LMP1 AMR-One
Formula 1 - racing cars DBR4 DBR5
  • Under the brand Lagonda sold
  • Underbody from the Jaguar XJS
  • Based on the Toyota iQ