PRINCE PHILIP’S LAGONDA UNDER THE HAMMER
A piece of Royal automotive history could soon enter new ownership as HRH The Duke of Edinburgh's Lagonda 3 Litre Drophead Coupé – one of just 20 made – heads to auction as a headline lot at H&H's upcoming sale at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, on Wednesday, April 20.
Built to special order at the request of Prince Philip himself, the 1954 car has covered around 50,000 miles at the hands of both its distinguished owner and a number of subsequent private owners. Resplendent in a fresh coat of its original special order Edinburgh Green, the car has been subject to an restoration of its body and mechanicals but retains its original leather interior, replete with special order passenger vanity mirrors purportedly used by Her Majesty. A telephone was also fitted to allow the Duke to remain in contact at all times via a radio frequency specially allocated by The Admiralty. Though this has since been removed, its dashboard switch and aerial remain. Amongst these additions, some more substantial deviations from standard specification included a power hood and floor-change gearbox, with overdrive added during the car’s more recent restoration.
The car's extraordinary history and good condition have driven the car's value way beyond that of 'everyday' examples of the breed. An estimate of £350,000 to £450,000 has been placed on the car, which lived an extremely busy life under Royal ownership. The car was used regularly by Prince Phillip and was often used on the school run to Cheam prep school with a young Prince Charles in tow. The car even travelled to Australia aboard HMY Britannia for the Duke's Commonwealth Tour from 1956 to 1957.
H&H sales manager Damian Jones is understandably enthusiastic about such an important vehicle: “This car is part of our history,” he said. “The accompanying paperwork beggars belief. There is an amusing story about Prince Phillip driving Her Majesty through London in this car and being held up by a policeman on point duty directing traffic. When the policeman saw who was in the Lagonda he did a double take and swiftly waved them on.”