1932 Lagonda 16/80 "Special Six" Tourer

“ Very well cared for and maintained throughout its life. There's a good file of papers showing money spent & work done over the years. ”
A rare chance to own a piece of British classic car Royalty.
Background

A sports touring car introduced by Lagonda in 1932, the Crossley six-cylinder 16/80 replaced the four-cylinder that had been used up to that point – and while both displaced the same two-litre capacity, the later car was both smoother and more powerful.

Lagonda insisted that these improvements mustn’t be at the cost of reliability though and made substantial changes to ensure it could be covered by the firm’s nine-year warranty, even if a condition of that guarantee was the car had to be returned to the factory for a full rebuild – at considerable cost – every three years. Please see the first paragraph of the attached Terms of Guarantee lest you think we’re joking…

The first part of its name refers to the taxation class and while the latter would normally indicate the horsepower, it didn’t produce anything like 80bhp, so may refer instead to the car’s claimed top speed, with Autocar reporting that a cruising speed of 70mph was possible.

It could be bought with either a conventional four-speed manual gearbox or a pre-selector which, once mastered, offers a “rapidity and lightness of action”.

Three bodystyles were offered: A steel-bodied four-seater touring car like the one you see here; a Weymann fabric-bodied saloon; and a Vanden Plas-designed but Lagonda-built two-seat sportscar.

Between 261 and 267 had been built by the time production ended in 1943, and it is thought that as few as 74 remain today.

Overview
With just two former registered keepers, ‘YY 2317’ has been in the seller’s father’s care for the past six years.

A long-time classic car enthusiast – he held the record at Shelsley Walsh for nine years and drove Le Papillon Bleu, a 1901 Panhard-Levassor, on the London to Brighton Run many times – his wife was the one who first fell in love with the Lagonda.

And they were quite the team; while they only used the Lagonda for high-days-and-holidays, they had done a lot of rallying previously, including entering a vintage Bentley in the London to Peking Rally.

VSCC-eligible as a post-vintage thoroughbred, which could exponentially expand your motorsport and social options, the Special Six runs and drives very well indeed.

It looks fantastic too and sounds the part – and for those who might be worried about the cost of running a vintage car, can we point you towards the history file to check how much it cost to have the magneto carrier refurbished?

Estimate: £30,000 - £40,000

View current price bid HERE