From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Article from 'The Motor' magazine detailing a road test of a V12 Lagonda titled 'Trial by Jury'.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 170\1\ img083 | |
| Date | 18th September 1940 | |
| The Motor 140 September 18, 1940. TRIAL BY JURY By Laurence Pomeroy, Junr. FEW cars have been so quickly acknowledged to be in the front rank as the V12 Lagonda. Since its introduction The Motor has, in various articles and road tests, appreciated fully its outstanding qualities. Let me quote, for instance, from a report based on a road test carried out by a colleague in 1938: 'The Lagonda remains in some respects unique, so successfully does it combine tremendous performance with smoothness and quietness, and excellent road holding with personal comfort.' The sale of these cars is still continuing, as a steady export trade, particularly with America, is being carried on. The latest types embody certain detail refinements and I was, therefore, pleased to accept an opportunity of renewing my acquaintance with the 10-ft. 4-in. wheelbase saloon, for it is a model that had previously captured my enthusiasm on many long, high-speed runs both in this country and abroad. It occurred to me that to avoid any bias of such favourable associations it would be distinctly interesting to submit the car, on this occasion, to a panel of representative drivers, and to make a report based more on their reactions to it than my own. I was fortunate to be able to secure the co-operation of Peter Clark, who has performed so well at Le Mans in his 1.5-litre H.R.G., Sam Clutton, whose expert handling of the inspiriting 12-litre Itala is a feature of our speed meetings, and Anthony Heal, who runs a very fast 30-98 Vauxhall in private use and rushes up Shelsley Walsh and other places at enormous speeds on his old 10-litre Fiat. Dawdling at 80 m.p.h. Picking the model up at Staines, I took the wheel for the first stage of the journey via Windsor to Maidenhead and Henley. Road conditions made it impossible to exceed 80 m.p.h., a figure which is a very comfortable dawdle with the pistons touring up and down at the very moderate speed of 2,200 ft. per minute, despite the tachometer indicating 4,000 r.p.m. But I must say candidly that the 'jury' remained distinctly cool. Their general comments criticized the comparatively slow get-away on the 4.75 top gear, a seeming tendency of the car to yaw, the apparent absence of high acceleration in the upper speed ranges and the fact that the steering wheel is turned about 3.25 times from lock to lock. All these points interested me, for with my greater knowledge of the car I thought I knew the answers. Thus I awaited the time when the critics should speak from more prolonged knowledge and experience at the wheel, and at Henley went into the passenger seat and handed over the control to Peter Clark. He immediately shot up the long hill on the Oxford road well over 80 m.p.h., and almost as immediately said that whereas when watching the car being driven the steering ratio looked low, when actually handling the job it seemed just right, although the strong castor would produce an excessive self-righting effect if the wheel was released. With increasing familiarity it became quite evident to all that the upper-end acceleration is really extraordinarily good, albeit disguised by the complete smoothness and quietness of the engine. Sixty to eighty m.p.h. could, for instance, be compassed in less than 13 secs., a normal time for the 10-30 m.p.h. span on a touring car. But, as Clark remarked, the engine is so unobtrusive that there is practically no indication whether the throttle is shut, half open or pushed hard on the floor, and this necessarily camouflages the rapidity at which one is travelling. So much is this the case that until the driver is thoroughly at home he has consistently to watch the speedometer, otherwise the velocity will be a deal faster than he realizes, of which more anon. Unfortunately, during the Henley-Oxford part of the trip, there seemed to be a lot of odd traffic at awkward places and nothing like the limit of speed could be obtained, yet it was made clearly evident that the road holding [Image of a V12 Lagonda with number plate JPF 407 on a country road] SPEED IN THE COTSWOLDS. Open roads over the Cotswold Hills and an absence of traffic make an ideal testing ground for the 12-cylinder Lagonda. 100 m.p.h. was exceeded many times during the course of a few hours' run. a4 | ||