Lagonda 2 Litre Low chassis - 1929
— One of the most iconic British sports cars from the 1920s —- Model The iconic British sports car of the 1920s
- Frame A factory low chassis Tourer, well known in the Lagonda register
- We love Our car is still fitted with its original engine, which needs to be restarted
- Restauration Our car has been restored at no expense spared in the past and wears a beautiful patina
- Origin A French car still coming with its old Parisian registration number plates
For the sportsman of the late 1920s, the Lagonda was the archetypal fast tourer car. Comfortable enough to drive on a long journey, the car combined style and performance. The ANNA LISA Art On Wheels Lagonda is still equipped with its original engine and benefits from a beautiful patina.
Lagonda, a brand known for their powerful sports cars
Lagonda was not born with a sporting vocation. It actually came later in its life. Indeed, in 1898 when Wilbur Gunn, an American born in Springfield, Ohio in 1853, founded Lagonda in England, he first manufactured motorbikes before adding tricycles to its offer. The name Lagonda was created after the Indian name of a river near Springfield.
As most automotive pioneers, Gunn and his business partner Cranmer soon added a fourth wheel to their tricycles and began building “voiturettes”.
One of their cars won the 1910 Moscow-St. Petersburg rally, opening up new commercial opportunities in the Russian market. When Wilbur Gunn died in 1920, his partner A. H. Cranmer retained the technical direction of the firm and oriented it towards more powerful and sporty cars, for which the brand is still well known today.
The company went on a successful path: by the early 1920s, Lagonda had between 500 and 800 employees and produced between 400 and 700 cars per year.
One of the firm’s most emblematic cars was the 2 Litre, presented in 1925, of which 1,440 were produced until 1931.
Much later, in 1947, David Brown bought the Lagonda brand and integrated it into Aston Martin. From then on, within the AML group (standing for “Aston Martin Lagonda”), Aston Martin was dedicated to sports and competition cars while Lagonda focused on sports sedans.
The Lagonda Rapide, a four-door car based on the Aston Martin DB4 has become one of the best known cars of the brand, followed by the most famous of them all, the four series of sedans with angular styling and futuristic interiors, which were launched in the 1970s and produced until 1990.
More recently, the Gaydon-based brand has quietly re-launched the Lagonda name with the Taraf, an expensive, hand-built four-door aimed at Middle Eastern customers. It is often rumoured that Aston Martin plans to launch an ultra-luxury SUV with the Lagonda badge
© Aguttes
The 2 litre Lagonda low chassis from the ANNA LISA collection
Our car came out of the Lagonda workshops with the 2 litre supercharged engine. The type on the chassis plate confirms this, since “2B” stands for supercharged car. If our Lagonda is still equipped with its original engine, it no longer has its supercharger, which was probably removed decades ago. Today, our car’s engine comes with a simple carburettor.
As for the T2 designation, it is that of a factory Tourer body. Although the Lagonda archives have disappeared, and the first owner is unknown, the British Lagonda Club has a register of all owners since 1949: It shows that our car was bought in 1949 by Lieutenant Burvill from Havant in Hampshire.
Then, in 1974, our Lagonda became French and was registered in Paris in the name of Mr Levy with the number plate “401 XT 75”, a registration plate that our car is still equipped with.
Our Lagonda underwent a no-expense-spared quality restoration in the 1980s. Today it wears a superb patina and is ready to be restarted. Important point, its engine is not blocked.
© Aguttes