Lagondaforum

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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I don't doubt Rod Jolley could "restore" a wreck. A bit like the proverbial broom you've had for thirty years . . . but you have replaced the head 10 times and the handle 6 times. Not the same broom anymore. With enough money you can remake practically anything. Does an id plate and the original steering wheel make it the same car? Read a few articles in "Automobile" magazine and it is amazing what can be resurrected. Most cars, of any make, that need a major restoration would, I imagine, cost more to restore by a specialist than they could be sold for when finished?

There are some fairly hideous original bodies on Rolls Royces. Should one care about throwing away the body of those when rotten? Lagondas mainly have factory bodies I believe, so don't suffer the problem of ugly bodies.

The LG45 saloon I mentioned in a previous post appears to have deep pitting in most of the chassis components from the photographs I have seen. I doubt that will ever be restored. A shame, but who is going to throw time and a lot of money at finding and replacing a lot of parts, possibly including the chassis. I imagine the engine is savable.

David

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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Hi,

Very interesting subject!

May I join in with a few views from different sides!

I hear a lot about "Replica" this and "Replica" that but what "actually is a "Replica" ?

I say it is a complete newly made copy (such like the new Auto Unions and Mercedes cars being made now) and thus are a "Complete Replica" AND I MEAN NO DIS-RESPECT BY THIS!

Where as a plastic SS100 Jaguar on XJ6 running gear for example is not a replica but a new car resembling X Y or Z.

On the other hand we have an M45 Saloon with a dead body.
Yes we can restore the body, but what if we need to replace 95% of the frame and panels? We will then have an original M45 with a "Replica" saloon body! Ok it left the factory with the same type of body but this body is NEW! so not original and not "the original" So our car also is not "Original" although it is to original specification! But so are the Auto Unions! There is a difference and I know that well and truly but there is a very indistinct line between what is and what isn't "original" and on who's interpretation.

Laurence, says he would NEVER buy a "replica" yet he gladly bought a car with a body resembling nothing ever made by Lagonda! I find this very odd but completely respect his thoughts and "thinking" (he just has a different classification of the subject to me) and he is not wrong, just of different opinion on the subject!

If we are to restore this imaginary M45 with a dead body, (or what if we find a complete car with NO body as we have had in on many occasion) and the owner decides that he would rather have an M45 with say a T7 body, the new T7 body if made well, (let us say by one of the best like RJ ltd) will be exactly the same (or as close as any two Lagondas ever were) as every other T7 bodied M45, but it will have a "Replica" body. So in short it will be at the end of the restoration an M45 with a Replica Lagonda Factory body. And so will the car be if Restored with a newly made Saloon body! What is the difference? Again I have my views on how to differentiate but a lot of that is "Gut feeling" rather than something actually definable.

At the end of the day I see it like this.

There are more Lagondas being saved and restored and used because they are fun in whatever incarnation they come back in than would be the case if we all were forced to "preserve" anything and everything that we could of whatever we find! Weather we like it or not, people will pay more for a sports type car than a heavy full bodied car that does not attract the ladies ;o) and when restoring our cars, "Most" but not all of us are forced to think with some consideration to economics! let us face it, not many of us can afford to pile 200k into the restoration of a car that would net us 60k if heaven forbid we were forced to sell it!
The more cars being saved from scrap the better! Totally original or not!

My view?
In short, unless it's my money then it's not my choice!
I too like saloons, (I have even bought a few just to stop them being molested, and refused to sell them for the same reason) but I like more to see working cars being loved and used than dead wrecks getting worse because no one wants them for what they are or were!

Happy motoring,
Julian

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Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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Hi all,
Cheffins auction of the 16th April sold LG 45 chassis no 12124 reg. EPE 231 that once was with the Gairdner family and had a 6LK engine fitted but later a Jaguar XK 120 engine. Needs restoration and a Meadows engine! or if you could get the Gairdner 6LK. Some LG 45's were fitted with 4LK units even from new.
It was sold for £6400.00 so looked good value.
Best of luck to the new owner.
Eddie Bourke.

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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Damn! Just what I was looking for!

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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Barn Find LG 45 # 12133, Chassis is complete, Body is missing. Presently has a Bugatti Type 57 body. have traced ownership back to 1949 John Troka Chicago Duesenberg dealer.

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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Through working in the USA, plus my N. American contacts, I have known about the LagBug for many years. I have corresponded to various people about it and continue to be curious about what will become of it.

Colin M34

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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The Bankers Bugatti ot LagBug as some call it, is being restored. The LG 45 chassis is under restoration now and the Bugatti body will stay with the chassis until a suitable Lagonda body can be reproduced or an original found.
Dave davmtnvw@hotmail.com

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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Dave,

I know of an original LG 45 drophead body needing total restoration but remarkably complete. I bought it off eBay a few years ago. The current owner will have to asked whether he wishes to dispose of it. Contact me privately for more information.

Colin

Subject: Re: BARN FINDS : Will they continue to appear ?

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On the subject of vanishing saloons; I acquired a Short Chassis V 12 Sports Saloon three years ago. One attraction was the superb Frank Feely styling, so well considered that it is hard to find a bad angle on this perfectly proportioned design. It embodies all the traditional elements of Lagonda style and British tradition, combined with the right amount of contemporary Art Deco influence . The lower roof line, due to the compact V 12, emparts a lithe and enrgetic stance to the car, unlike most other pre war saloons, giving every impression that it is a seriously rapid conveyance and quite capable of the "Ton plus", as advertised. There is no way I would ever consider the car with any other body, radiating both Four Square values and subtle elegance, like a Royal Navy uniform tailored in Saville Row.
So, at least, one Saloon will stay that way, in my ownership, and be the subject of a sympathetic restoration as is. I would suggest, in my opinion, that Saloons will become sought after, with time, due to the larger nuber of Le Mans conversions and open cars available, by comparison.
It is as Bentley concieved it and, as such, should remain true to his vision.

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