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355 *1939 Lagonda V12 Drophead CoupéChassis no. 14059Engine no. 7541‘In making an evaluation of the better British cars, the LagondaV12 certainly must be considered an excellent design and one thatcontributed to raising the state of the art - not forgetting, of course,that it probably should be considered W O Bentley’s masterpiece.’ -Road & Track, October 1978.A quite remarkable piece of automotive engineering, the W O BentleydesignedLagonda V12 was one of the outstanding British models ofits day and one of the exclusive handful of 1930s road cars that couldexceed 100mph in standard tune. Not only that, but the magnificent,4.5-litre, V12 engine produced sufficient torque to endow the car witha walking-pace-to-maximum capability in top gear.For Lagonda, the year 1935 had brought with it bankruptcy andrescue, its benefactor being a young solicitor named Alan Good.Good reorganised the company and recruited W O Bentley, by thendisillusioned with life at Rolls-Royce, which had acquired Bentleyin 1931. Bentley succeeded in refining the muscular, MeadowsenginedLagondas while working on a vastly more-advanced designthat many consider the great man’s finest.First seen in 1936, the Lagonda V12 did not commence deliveriesuntil 1938 and only 189 had been built before the coming of WW2ended production. The advanced chassis employed doublewishboneindependent front suspension and was available witha varied choice of coachwork, including limousine. Frank Feeley,stylist of Aston Martin’s post-war ‘DB’ cars, was responsible forthe elegant factory bodywork. As usual, the short-chassis Rapideroadster provided even more performance.254 | Goodwood festival of speed