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The Lagonda Straight-6 is a famous automobile engine used by Aston Martin and Lagonda marques in the 1950s. Designed by Willie Watson under the supervision of Walter Owen Bentley of Bentley Motors Limited, it vaulted Aston Martin to fame as a maker of desirable sports and racing cars.
Towards the end of World War II, W. O. Bentley began working on a new straight-six engine for the Lagonda marque. Bentley had taken a seat on Lagonda's board of directors when Alan Good bought and re-organized Lagonda in June 1935. Bentley had completed his obligatory three years term with former rival Rolls-Royce following their 1931 acquisition of his former business. They had refused to return it to racing and had replaced many of his chassis and engine designs with their own. It was clear Lagonda's successful V12 would be seen as too extravagant for the postwar market.
Bentley and his team developed a modern dual overhead cam straight-six engine. It initially displaced 2.6 L (2580 cc/157 in3) with a 78 mm (3.07 in) bore and 90 mm (3.543 in) stroke and produced roughly 105 hp (78 kW) with dual SU carburettors.
The Lagonda straight-6 caught the attention of David Brown, who had purchased Aston Martin in 1947. Aston's Claude Hill-designed four-cylinder was not powerful enough for Brown, who desired a powerful, and high-tech, powerplant for Aston Martin. So Brown purchased Lagonda as well, incorporating Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. that same year.
The first production vehicle to use Bentley's new engine was the 1948 Lagonda 2.6-Litre. This was a large car for the place and time, available as either a 4-door saloon or 2-door convertible, and it could only reach 84 mph (135 km/h).
Sales were slow, but Aston's 4-cylinder 2-Litre Sports model was barely selling at all. Brown decided to share the straight-6 with Aston, creating the wildly successful DB2 model. This car placed first and second in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on its introduction in 1950, propelling Aston Martin into the top tier of post-war sports car companies.
The 2.6 L straight-6 went on to power the DB3 racing car and DB2/4 road car, before being enlarged to 2.9 L (2922 cc/178 in3 83 mm x 90 mm) in 1952 for the DB3, in 1953 for the DB2/4 Mk1 Saloon in September 1953 & April 1954 for the DB2/4 Mk1 DHC. Power eventually reached 195 hp the (145 kW) with triple twin-choke Weber carburettors in the "DBB"-spec DB Mark III after a Tadek Marek substantial redesign, but the engine by then was showing its age. It was replaced for the DB4 and later cars by a 3.7 L straight-6 designed by Tadek Marek.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with expensive grand touring cars in the 1950s and 1960s, and with the fictional character James Bond following his use of a DB5 model in the 1964 film Goldfinger. Their sports cars are regarded as a British cultural icon. Aston Martin has held a Royal Warrant as purveyor of motorcars to Charles III since 1982, and has over 160 car dealerships in 53 countries, making it a global automobile brand. The company is traded at the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. In 2003 it received the Queen's Award for Enterprise for outstanding contribution to international trade. The company has survived seven bankruptcies throughout its history.
Sir David Brown was an English industrialist, managing director of his grandfather's gear and machine tool business David Brown Limited and more recently David Brown Tractors, and one time owner of shipbuilders Vosper Thorneycroft and car manufacturers Aston Martin and Lagonda.
Walter Owen Bentley, was an English engineer who founded Bentley Motors Limited in London. He was a motorcycle and car racer as a young man. After making a name for himself as a designer of aircraft and automobile engines, Bentley established his own firm in 1919. He built the firm into one of the world's premier luxury and performance auto manufacturers, and led the marque to multiple victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After selling his namesake company to Rolls-Royce Limited in 1931, he was employed as a designer for Lagonda, Aston Martin, and Armstrong Siddeley.
The Aston Martin DB6 is a grand tourer made by British car manufacturer Aston Martin and was produced from September 1965 to January 1971.
The Aston Martin 2-Litre Sports was a sports car sold by Aston Martin from 1948 to 1950. It was the first product of the company under David Brown's ownership and is retrospectively known as the DB1. The car debuted at the 1948 London Motor Show and was based on the Aston Martin Atom prototype. Just 15 were sold.
The Aston Martin DB2 is a grand tourer that was sold by Aston Martin from May 1950 until April 1953. The successor to the 2-Litre Sports model, it had a comparatively advanced dual overhead cam 2.6 L Lagonda straight-6 engine in place of the previous overhead valve engine straight-four engine. It was available as a closed, 2-seater coupé which Aston Martin called a sports saloon, and later also as a drophead coupé, which accounted for a quarter of the model's total sales. The closed version had some success in racing.
Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2013.
The Aston Martin DB2/4 is a grand tourer produced by Aston Martin from 1953 until 1957. It was available as a 2+2 hatchback saloon, drophead coupé (DHC) and 2-seat fixed-head coupé. A small number of Bertone bodied spiders were commissioned by private buyers.
The DB 2/4 Mark III is a grand tourer sold by Aston Martin from 1957 until 1959. It was an evolution of the DB2/4 Mark II model it replaced, using an evolution of that car's W.O. Bentley-designed 2.9 L (2922 cc/178 in³) Lagonda straight-6 engine, redesigned by Tadek Marek.
The DB4 is a grand tourer that was produced by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963..
The Aston Martin DBS is a grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1967 to 1972.
The Aston Martin Virage is an automobile produced by British luxury automobile manufacturer Aston Martin as a replacement for its V8 models. Introduced at the Birmingham Motor Show in 1988, it was joined by the high-performance Vantage in 1993, and then the name of the base model was changed to V8 Coupe in 1996.
The Lagonda 2.6-Litre was an automobile produced in England by Lagonda from 1948 to 1953. It was the first model from that company following its purchase by David Brown in 1947, and was named for the new straight-6 engine which debuted with the car. The Lagonda straight-6 engine was designed by W. O. Bentley and would propel Lagonda's new parent company, Aston Martin, to fame.
The Lagonda 3-Litre is an automobile which was produced by Aston Martin Lagonda from 1953 until 1958. It was the second Lagonda model of the David Brown/Aston Martin era. The 3-Litre was fitted with a higher displacement 2.9 L 140 bhp version of the twin overhead camshaft Lagonda Straight-6 engine designed by Walter Owen Bentley.
The Aston Martin DBR1 was a sports racing car built by Aston Martin starting in 1956, intended for the World Sportscar Championship as well as non-championship sportscar races at the time. It is most famous as the victor of the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans, Aston Martin's only outright victory at the endurance classic. It is one of only three cars in the 1950s to win both the World Sports Car Championship and Le Mans 24 Hours in the same year. In addition the six World Sports Car Championship victories was a record for any car in the 1950s and remained a record in the championship until surpassed by the Ferrari 250TR. The three consecutive triumphs in 1959 at the Nürburgring, Le Mans and the Tourist Trophy equalled the record set by the Ferrari 250TR with its three consecutive victories at the start of the 1958 season.
The Aston Martin DBR2 was a sports racing car built in 1957 as a sibling to the Aston Martin DBR1, yet competing in a larger engine capacity group.
Tadeusz "Tadek" Marek (1908–1982) was a Polish automobile engineer, known for his Aston Martin engines.
The Aston Martin DP215 was a prototype sports car built by Aston Martin for grand touring-style racing in 1963. It was built alongside the similar DP214, both of which replaced the previous DP212. Only a single example was built, which survives today.
Edward John 'Ted' Cutting was a British automotive engineer. He designed the body, engine, chassis, suspension and fully engineered the Aston Martin DBR1, winner of the 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Aston Martin RB6 is a 2.5-litre, naturally-aspirated, inline-6 racing engine, developed and designed by Aston Martin for Formula One racing; used between 1959 and 1960. The RB6 also shared the basic double-overhead camshaft straight-6 Aston Martin engine design with its brethren, but sleeved to reduce its capacity to 2.5-litres. Although Tadek Marek's design was a reliable and powerful unit in its 3.7-litre road car form, the reduced capacity racing motor was hard-pressed to cope with the heavy chassis and poor aerodynamics, and frequent engine failures blighted the DBR4's brief racing career. Aston Martin claimed a 280 bhp (210 kW) output for the DBR4's engine. However, it was common practice at the time to overquote engine power, and a more realistic value is closer to 250 bhp (190 kW). This value is still higher than that provided by the Coventry Climax FPF straight-4, used by contemporary manufacturers such as Lotus and Cooper, but the Aston Martin engine weighed appreciably more. The engine drove the rear wheels through a proprietary David Brown gearbox, provided by Aston Martin's owners.
William "Willie" Watson http://www.automotivemasterpieces.com/william-willie-watson.html
Tadek Marek engine redesign
DB3 History: Racing with the David Brown Aston Martin's by John Wyer ISBN 0-85184-036-1