Lagondaforum

Subject: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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16/80 Tourer sold at auction by Brightwells today for an all in cost of £62,600 (£55k + 10% fees and VAT on that)

http://classiccars.brightwells.com/viewdetails.php?id=7086

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Subject: Re: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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What a lovely old thing! Looks all correct and unmolested and is unusual for having a T6, as opposed to a T7 body. Plenty to do but at least it seems all there and nothing much to find.

Right price as well.

Cheers

Colin

Subject: Re: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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I was at the auction and the car was quite down at heel. The auctioneers description majored on the cars history and the correspondence with Ivan Forshaw with not too much about the current condition. Off the road for 14yrs but it was claimed to start and basically needed recommissioning. For some reason the dashboard seemed to be detached from the top of the scuttle and the trim looked slightly strange.
This was a strong price for a car needing so much work but I have to say it was a good looking car and may well reward time and investment in it.
Mark

Subject: Re: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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I agree the price was strong, but clearly three or more interested parties were all pulled in by the here to sell estimate. It looked a good car with excellent potential for someone.

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Subject: Re: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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Hi Guys
I have been away and here are some more thoughts. I especially enjoyed Mark's analysis that the car was quite down at heel and that the auctioneers majored the Ivan Forshaw correspondence as part of the car’s history.

This caused me to reflect a little on Ivan. He was a pompous man. He joined the Army as a dispatch rider and styled himself as “Captain Forshaw,” where he ended up - a relatively junior army officer rank not to be confused with a Captain RN or RAF Group Captain. After the war there was a huge amount of snobbery regarding the kind of Lagonda you drove - 2 Litre vs 4.5 litre models and junior rather than senior ranks in the services. 16/80’s were regarded along with Rapiers as not proper Lagondas and beyond the pale by both camps. I had a 12/24 at the time and Ivan did not acknowledge these as worth consideration.

In the 1980’s I went up the stairs to Ivan’s office for an interview, to be quizzed about my job and my connections. However I was ultimately informed that I would be allowed to buy spares from him – at a price of course. Ivan’s letters were beautifully written and make interesting reading and as in this case they certainly add to the specific history of a particular car.

I agree with Mark that this is an interesting and good looking car. I feel the other learning point is that the £55k hammer price is spot on and the £7600 is just a premium to be paid for the convenience of buying at auction. Hopefully, the car now has a loving owner who will enjoy and improve it. The first job is to put in new steel con rods. Ivan never sold these. Other than this, there seems to be few missing parts and is a jolly nice project.

I look forward to seeing the car out and about.

Colin

Subject: Re: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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That's a great looking car and appears in much better condition than my M45 when I started on it . Thanks for the fascinating background info Colin.

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Subject: Re: 16/80 Tourer sold at Auction today

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To add to that background; in conversation at a club meeting many years ago, I was told that it was fairly common at one time for members to donate their unwanted/worn out Lagonda, in the mistaken belief that they were giving them to the Lagonda Club itself.
So, little justification for the prices charged for at least some parts from this source. But of course, that needs to be balanced by the observation that those same parts might well have been unobtainable otherwise.