The Lagonda V12 is a large car produced by the British Lagonda company from 1938 until 1940. It was first shown at the 1936 London Motor Show but production did not commence until 1938. The V12 model featured an all new 4480 cc 60 degree V12 engine designed by

W. O. Bentley Walter Owen Bentley, MBE (16 September 1888 – 13 August 1971) was an English engineer who founded Bentley Motors Limited in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft an ...

. The engine has a combined cylinder block and upper crankcase cast in iron with a light alloy lower crankcase. The cylinder heads are cast iron. Each bank of six cylinders has its own single overhead camshaft, chain driven, and its own distributor driven from the back of the camshaft. Twin downdraught SU carburettors are located between the engine blocks. is developed at 5000rpm. The chassis was also new and features independent

torsion bar A torsion bar suspension, also known as a torsion spring suspension, is any vehicle suspension that uses a torsion bar as its main weight-bearing spring. One end of a long metal bar is attached firmly to the vehicle chassis; the opposite end termi ...

front suspension and live rear axle with hypoid final drive. The braking system is Lockheed hydraulic. The engine is connected to a four-speed gearbox with centrally mounted change lever. 1939 Lagonda V12 de Ville no

Lagonda V12 Drophead Coupé IAA 2019 JM 0462

Coachwork could be by Lagonda or a number of independent coachbuilders and to suit various body designs a wheelbase of , or could be specified. Only ten cars were built with the longest bodywork. Even with a saloon body the car could reach 100 mph. Two modified V12s with four carburettor engines were entered for the 1939

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

where they finished third and fourth. A 1939 version of the Drophead coupe was featured in an episode of The Twilight Zone called “A Thing About Machines” as a car possessed, terrorizing the main character. The car was driven by stuntmen ducking below the dash or by drivers dressed in all black or white to portray the car as driverless, chasing Mr. Finchley (probably based on Robert Benchley) to his death. The Lagonda V12 featured prominently in Roald Dahl's adult books ''

My Uncle Oswald ''My Uncle Oswald'' is a 1979 adult novel written by Roald Dahl. The novel stars Uncle Oswald, a character who previously appeared in " The Visitor" and "Bitch", two short stories also written by Roald Dahl (and which can both be found in the 1 ...

'' and the short story ''The Visitor'' (in the collection ''

Switch Bitch ''Switch Bitch'' (1974) is a book of adult short stories by British writer Roald Dahl. Four stories, originally published in ''Playboy'' between 1965 and 1974, are collected. They are linked by themes of rape by deception: in each one some majo ...

''). In the stories Dahl discusses taking delivery of a 1938 Lagonda with custom coachwork and a set of horns that play Mozart's " son gia mille e tre" in perfect pitch and seats "upholstered in fine-grain alligator and the panelling to be veneered in

yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus br ...

... because I prefer the colour and grain of English yew to that of any other wood".

References

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V12 V12 or V-12 may refer to: Aircraft * Mil V-12, a Soviet heavy lift helicopter * Pilatus OV-12, a planned American military utility aircraft * Rockwell XFV-12, an American experimental aircraft project * Škoda-Kauba V12, a Czechoslovak experim ...

Cars introduced in 1938