Solved - NEH 2589: Lagonda V12 Le Mans "Gunville Special"

[Carnut]

1 point for identifying this car and when it was built correctly:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS OBTAINED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD!

[Carnut]

Experts?

[frederick59]

Delage DL 6 Racer?

[nicanary]

Is it Alvis-based ?

[Carnut]

Delage DL 6 Racer?

Neither a Delage..

Is it Alvis-based ?

..nor an Alvis.

[D-type]

Modern, say post 1980?

[Carnut]

Modern, say post 1980?

It's an old car but quite new bodywork..

[nicanary]

I have an idea who did the bodywork but cannot get onto the appropriate website. Nuts. Is it a Lagonda ?

[Carnut]

I have an idea who did the bodywork but cannot get onto the appropriate website. Nuts. Is it a Lagonda ?

It is a Lagonda, yes!

[nicanary]

1936 Lagonda LG45 ?

[Carnut]

1936 Lagonda LG45 ?

No, it's not LG45 based.

[nicanary]

Surely not a V12 ? They've all been converted into genuine Le Mans team cars.

[Carnut]

Surely not a V12 ? They've all been converted into genuine Le Mans team cars.

Indeed it's a V12!
I'll lock it for you now..

[nicanary]

Is it an attempt to recreate one of the 1939 Le mans team cars ?

[Carnut]

Is it an attempt to recreate one of the 1939 Le mans team cars ?

Not specially a recreation but certainly a re-bodied Le Mans car.
I keep reading the site where it tells about it but to be honest I'm not all that much wiser about what's original and what's not..
This particular car has a name, which is what I'm looking for.

[nicanary]

It' s called the Gunville Special, for reasons not immediately apparent.  It has been built on a V12 chassis/engine in the style of the Le Mans team racers.

(I had thought it was Rod Jolley's work, so that was a waste of time)

You wanted a date. The website shows work in progress in 2012. The date of the chassis is not mentioned.

[Carnut]

It' s called the Gunville Special, for reasons not immediately apparent.  It has been built on a V12 chassis/engine in the style of the Le Mans team racers.

(I had thought it was Rod Jolley's work, so that was a waste of time)

You wanted a date. The website shows work in progress in 2012. The date of the chassis is not mentioned.

It's called the Gunville Special after the name of the village where the builder Don Standhaft's company was based, Tarrant Gunville near Blandford Forum in Dorset.  You're right that it's hard to find any evidence of exactly when it was built, but I believe it was around 2009/10.  Don has since moved his operation to Blandford Forum.  He has been in coachbuilding all his life since being apprenticed at Bournemouth Corporation about 40 years ago.

This is what he says about this car:

QUOTE
I was first introduced to Joe Harding by Ian Skinner a carpenter based in Semley. Joe wanted a body for a Lagonda V12 Le Mans. It was immediately obvious how enthusiastic he was about Lagondas. Back in those days it was hard to settle him down, he'd be charging around the workshop – keen as mustard.
Joe and a colleague had already built some V12 Le Mans cars with bodywork by Dick Brockman. Dick had sadly passed away so Joe was looking for someone to take on the coachbuilding having moved down to Dorset.

I was asked to take on the coachbuilding for all his subsequent Lagonda V12 Le Mans projects.
Joe was left with two angle iron frames and a few half finished panels. I then took over the frame and panel making from this point onwards.
On the first car we continued on from the Harding/Brockman build using up the remaining resources and making anything that wasn't available.
By the second build we were making all the panelling ourselves.
The 5th car was to be a Lagonda V12 Le Mans to be used himself which he was also going to race. He was after a style noticeably a V12 of course, but unique.
Joe's brief was to incorporate a roll cage, an air intake on the bonnet and the ability to remove the body quickly for race meetings. I came up with some ideas which Joe was very happy with, the Gunville Special was born!

The body was built in two parts rather than the standard three part constructions seen on the earlier builds. This design enabled the body to come off extremely quickly with only a few screw fixings.
We used a tubular construction rather than angle iron for frame, the bonnet and front bombs were also redesigned amongst many subtle changes.
I really enjoyed this project, and was very happy with my work.
Spending most of the time in America it has been well received all over the world. Christened the Gunville Special where it was built after the village Tarrant Gunville near Blandford, Dorset.

I consider this build as one of my career highlights.
In all I built complete 5 Lagonda Le Mans V12's for Joe including this one.
UNQUOTE

A well-earned point for you!

[Allan L]

Joe Harding had one of about six imitation Le Mans V12s that raced at Bentley DC Silverstone in 2002-2007 whilst I was handicapper. He wasn't the fastest of 'em.
As  nicanary wrote, the V12s have all been converted to "Le Mans Cars". Well nearly all.