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A select group of cars exude a natural sense of gravitas. A Lagonda 3-Litre does not need extraneous chrome fittings or vulgar tail-fins, for this is the perfect vehicle for making a discreet entrance at Goodwood.

The 3-Litre was the second Lagonda of the David Brown era. In 1946 the industrialist famously saw an advertisement offering a ‘High-class motor business, established 25 years, 30,000 pounds, net profit last year 4,000 pounds. Write Box V. 1362, The Times E.C.4.’ In February 1947, Brown purchased Aston Martin for £20,500, and seven months later, he acquired Lagonda for £52,500.

John L Lumley wrote in his book, Engines, that Brown bought Aston Martin for his racing car ambitions and Lagonda ‘because he wanted Bentley’s engine to put in racing cars’. The 2.6-litre saloon debuted in 1948 and was replaced by the 3-Litre in 1953. The initial choices of Tickford’s bodywork were the two-door coupe and the drophead, with a four-door saloon in 1954.

In the following year, David Brown acquired Tickford, and by 1956 the Aston Martin Lagonda operations moved to Newport Pagnell. The advertisements promised, with some justification, ‘Beauty of line, power and grace, superlative comfort, and proud dignity’.  The 3-Litre Mk. II of 1955 boasted a floor gear-lever, and in 1956, Bill Boddy of Motor Sport described the four-door saloon as an:

Interesting proposition, combining the twin-overhead cam Aston Martin engine in a car of luxurious styling and appointments, and one moreover endowed with that rarity amongst British chassis – independent suspension of the driving wheels.

At £3901 7s, the saloon was highly costly – about three times the price of a Wolseley 6/90 – but the Lagonda was a vehicle of genuine distinction. The Motor thought ‘It is one of the very few passenger saloons whose primary appeal is to the skilful and appreciative driver’.

The 3-Litre’s list of equipment was so extensive as to include an HMV radio. Meanwhile, the W O Bentley-designed DHOC engine was so flexible that a Lagonda could serve as urban transport or an A27 cruiser with equal flair. The most famous owner was The Duke of Edinburgh, earning Aston Martin its first Royal Warrant. His 1954 Edinburgh Green drophead, registration OXR 1, appeared in many newspaper articles and newsreels until it left the Royal Mews in 1961.

Production of the Drophead ended in 1957 and the saloon in 1958 after just 295 examples. The company announced they would build no more Lagondas until the Rapide’s launch, which took place in 1961. Sales of the 3-Litre were limited by its price in a market increasingly dominated by the Jaguar Mk. VIIM/VIII and the lack of an LHD option. And the surviving models are a reminder of a car of understated distinction – from a time when some British motorists still regarded automatic transmission as decadent.

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We have links with some of the top classic car clubs around the country and some of our policies even offer discounts of up to 25% for club members.

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• Historic rally cover
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