1959 Aston Martin Lagonda DBD engine in DB2-4 Mk III

The Lagonda Straight-6 is a famous

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods. The year 1886 is regarded ...

engine used by

Aston Martin 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 ...

and Lagonda marques in the 1950s. Designed by Willie Watson under the supervision of Walter Owen Bentley of

Bentley Motors Limited Bentley Motors Limited is a British designer, manufacturer and marketer of luxury cars and SUVs. Headquartered in Crewe, England, the company was founded as Bentley Motors Limited by W. O. Bentley (1888–1971) in 1919 in Cricklewood, Nort ...

, it vaulted Aston Martin to fame as a maker of desirable sports and racing cars.

History

Towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, W. O. Bentley began working on a new

straight-six engine The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bal ...

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 Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated ...

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 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 ...

. This was a large car for the place and time, available as either a 4-door saloon or 2-door

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary among eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air driving ex ...

, 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 Db2 is a family of data management products, including database servers, developed by IBM. It initially supported the relational model, but was extended to support object–relational features and non-relational structures like JSON and ...

model. This car placed first and second in class at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

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 Weber Carburetors is an automotive manufacturing company founded in 1923, known for their carburetors. History Eduardo Weber began his automotive career working for Fiat, first at their Turin plant (in 1914) and later at a dealership in Bologna. ...

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 The DB4 is a grand tourer that was produced by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. Technically the DB4 was not a development of the DB Mark III it replaced, nor did it evolve into the DB5. It had a platform rather than a tubular chassis with ...

and later cars by a 3.7 L straight-6 designed by Tadek Marek.

Applications

* 2.6 L (2580 cc/157 in³) ** 1948–1953

** 1950–1953 Aston Martin DB2 ** 1950–1952 Aston Martin DB3 in 1952 – Mille Miglia, Silverstone, Prix de Bern, Empire Trophy (Isle of Man), Le Mans 14/15.6.52, Jersey 10.07.52, Boreham 02.08.52, Goodwood 9 hrs (2 cars) ** 1953–1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 * 2.9 L (2922 cc/178 in³) ** 1952–1953 Aston Martin DB3 used 1st time Monaco 02.06.52 (3 cars) & then Goodwood 9 hrs 16.08.52 (1 car) ** 1953–1956 Aston Martin DB3S ** 1953–1958

Lagonda 3-Litre 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 ...

** 1954–1955 Aston Martin DB2/4 ** 1955–1957 Aston Martin DB2/4 Mark II ** 1957–1959 Aston Martin DB Mark III after Marek redesign

References

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 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lagonda Straight-6 Engine Straight-six engines Aston Martin Gasoline engines by model Automobile engines