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The V12’s announcement demonstrated that the revitalised companywas very much back in business, an impression Lagonda’s decisionto enter the 1939 Le Mans 24-Hour Race can only have enhanced.The marque already possessed a creditable Le Mans record, a shortchassis4½-Litre driven by John Hindmarsh and Luis Fontes havingwon the endurance classic outright in 1935.In October 1938 a Lagonda V12 saloon driven by Earl Howe hadcovered 101.5 miles at Brooklands in a single hour, despite having tostop to change a burst tyre, and this together with other high-speedtests, during which the car had shown complete reliability, indicatedthat it would be a highly suitable candidate for reviving Britishprestige at Le Mans. Accordingly, it was decided to enter a two-carteam in 1939 with the aim of securing valuable data, and then tomount a full-strength challenge the following year. In the race the twostreamlined two-seater Lagondas fared better than expected, MessrsBrackenbury and Dobson finishing in third place with Lords Selsdonand Waleran fourth. Had a less conservative race strategy beenemployed, then either might have won.The factory-bodied Lagonda V12 saloon offered here was originallybuilt for the then managing director of Lagonda Motors, Richard ‘Dick’Watney, and delivered to him on 24th October 1939, shortly after theoutbreak of WW2. Mr Watney left for Australia immediately after thewar and the Lagonda was then rebuilt by the factory and sold as anew car to one F C Price of London NW1 on 27th June 1946. Mr Priceregistered it in Manchester on 15th May 1947 as ‘GVU 675’.The accompanying Lagonda Club letter from its Hon Registrar,Arnold Davey, lists the following subsequent owners in factory andClub records: Major R de C Vigors of Chester (1948), R L Steynorof Ledbury (circa 1950), Les Buckton of Morton Bagot (May 1970)and David Dunn of Monkstown, Dublin (circa 1975). The Lagondasubsequently went to Australia where it was owned by MarcelSeroussi of Prahran and later Armadale, Victoria, and in August 2005was recorded as owned by Advocate J P Labesse of St Lawrence,Jersey, Channel Islands. The car next changed hands in June 2013,apparently to another member of the Labesse family. Now reunitedwith its old UK registration, ‘GVU 675’ is described by the vendor asin generally good condition, its engine running very smoothly. The caris offered with aforementioned correspondence, MoT to September2014 and V5C registration document.£80,000 - 100,000€98,000 - 120,000Motor Cars | 97