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1954 Lagonda DP115 V12 Le Mans

1954 Lagonda DP115 in Checkpoint, Movie, 1956 IMDB

Class: Cars, Racecar — Model origin: UK

1954 Lagonda DP115 V12 Le Mans

[*][*][*][*] Vehicle used a lot by a main character or for a long time

Comments about this vehicle

See the 6 comments from this page that were archived

AuthorMessage

wrenchhead US

2006-04-06 23:42

If this is indeed an Aston Martin, it is probably a heavily modified DB3S. The front end and bonnet are all wrong for a stock Aston. It may not be as Aston at all.

stronghold EN

2006-04-07 00:30

I would say (after seeing the film also today.!) ..it is an Aston martin (seen in the film from many angles + it's a four star car.!) it is a modified one (as wrenchead says) different front air-intake/grill and scoop on the bonnet ..but the rest of the car is Aston.!

wrenchhead US

2006-04-07 02:02

I agree that the general shape is Aston. Judging from the flared opening for the front wheel I guess its a modified DB3S http://www.michaelbrochstein.com/misc/images/limerock/lr041692.jpg Do we agree?

-- Last edit: 2006-04-07 02:04:47

Sunbar UK

2006-04-07 11:40

The movie was supposed to have been made with Aston Martin's help.
[Image: astonrear7py.5540.jpg][Image: astonlow3ci.4198.jpg][Image: astonfront6fx.5043.jpg]




-- Last edit: 2006-04-07 11:50:38

wrenchhead US

2006-04-07 22:18

Anyone agree that this is a DB3S ?

Sunbar UK

2006-04-08 00:00

wrenchhead wrote Anyone agree that this is a DB3S ?


Modified DB3S as you mentioned at the start....the front air-intake and the scoop on the top of the bonnet suggest either they were development cars that Aston had finished with or they intentionally wanted to distance them from their actual racing cars. Strange that the Aston Martin badge (if thats what it is?) is so over-sized. Also they were not registered for the road. - No registration plates that I can see. Certainly everything other than the bonnet looks fine to me for a DB3S.

If you look at car numbers 20 and 18 you can see the similarity...I'm looking for better pictures of car 18 which looks to be the version of the DB3S sold to customers with the Aston-shaped front.

[Image: grid1gp.5190.jpg]

Just noticed the car 18 also has a slightly smaller scoop also on the bonnet...not so different then.


-- Last edit: 2006-04-08 00:06:14

wrenchhead US

2006-04-08 00:06

yes I see, number 18 has the typical DB3S Front other than the scoop and number 20 is modified to have a much bigger air intake. I also noticed that huge badge and thought that whoever made the bonnet also made that - I guess he just liked big things :lol: I couldn't find any works aston with that front end.

-- Last edit: 2006-04-08 00:14:02

Sunbar UK

2006-04-08 00:31

About car number 18, I believe, a couple of references found on the web..

"Instead of going straight to the race track like other customer cars, DB3S/116 was purchased by the Rank Organization and appeared in the film Checkpoint."

also,

DB3S/116
J. Arthur Rank Organization, registered 88 HME and used in the film Checkpoint.
Sold to Graham No racing history.
Sold To Richardson 1964
Sold to Oldsworth 1966.
Sold to J. Henderson..2001 Pebble Beach Auction

No details on any modified cars found at all.

Edit...

I believe there were two Aston Martin works-prototype cars used in the movie in addition to a DB3S that Rank Studios bought from Aston Martin.

Under the bonnet and the enlarged scoop (all DB3S pitures on the web show a low bonnet line), there appears to be a taller than standard engine, this could also account for the larger front air intake.
[Image: engine8wn.7014.jpg]

The cars were probably already in Italy for testing with a revised engine (my guess at least), and Rank studios had permission to use them for filming. They would have been re-built with a standard bonnet later as all of the DB3S cars are well documented and David Brown actually sold all of the works cars later. (He said he always regretted not keeping them!) The scoop on the standard DB3S that the studio bought would have had the large scoop fitted also to make them look similar, but they ignored changing the whole bonnet and front, keeping this car in the background as far as possible.

My guess at least....Aston Martin DB3S works-prototype. Not a "built-for-the-movie vehicle" since they were obviously fully drivable and so similar to the actual cars sold-on elsewhere or the works cars.


-- Last edit: 2006-04-08 17:56:24

robgeelen NL

2007-02-01 10:52

Lagonda Prototype racer

Tim

2007-02-09 02:45

Rob's right. It's got Aston heritage, but it's the Lagonda DP115 which was a separate project to the DB3S.

There were two built, both failed at Le Mans and were passed on to the film makers. I believe that several DB2/4s and DB3S were loaned for background work as well. There was even a wooden mockup made of the Lagonda which was used for the crash scene at the end of the film.

SX41922 AU

2009-01-05 08:15

Yep, Lagonda - and these cars were fitted with V12 engines.

mgisbert ES

2010-06-12 12:52

In terms of authenticity Checkpoint was a winner.It featured two genuine V12 Lagonda Sports Racing cars loaded personally by Aston Martin Boss David Brown (a friend of Director Ralph Thomas), not to mention the driving talents of Roy Salvadori and Reg Parnell, John Wyer, Aston's racing supremo, went out to Florence to help orchestrate the set-piece Le Mans start.

antp BE

2010-07-21 18:07

Sent by Dave W.:
Quote I came across your site when searching for information about 2 Lagonda cars which I photographed in 1994 at a historic car meeting at Silverstone. I know that they were cars built by Aston Martin with Lagonda V12 engines and competed (I think) at Le Mans. It appears from your site that you only want pictures taken from actual films, but I attach the 2 pictures I took at Silverstone as they may be of interest to your members.
[Image: 33lagonda.5308.jpg] [Image: 34lagonda.9830.jpg]

dsl SX

2012-03-12 06:15

Quote - "This project was given a code DP115, which was chassis reference DP 115/1 and 2, with a third spare chassis being built but not used. The maiden outing was Silverstone in May 1954 when Reg Parnell took DP 115/1 to 5th place despite oil pressure problems. DP 115/1 crashed at Le Mans in June the same year, after achieving 148.27 mph on the Mulsanne Straight. Reg Parnell achieved 4th place in DP 115/2 at Silverstone in July. This was the Legonda’s best result. According to John Wyers account in “Racing with David Brown Aston Matins”, DP 115/1 was given a new chassis frame, believed to be DP 115/3 at the end of 1954 while the damaged to the rear body was repaired. ...... In 1955 there was a suggestion that many of the components from DP 115/1 as well as the engine and transmission were built in to DP 166/1, which had a more modern space frame chassis and disc brakes, and the body discarded, ending up in Coleys West London yard. The only race that the revised car DP 166/1 completed in was the 1955 Le Mans, when it retired after 93 laps having run out of fuel, apparently due to a wrongly fitted and leaking fuel cap. Subsequently, the chassis frame from DP 166/1 was stripped, and the components reassembled into 115/3 with a new body and this and DP 115 /2 were refurbished for the film Checkpoint." - http://markcookeracing.org/?page_id=278 . So this is either DP115/2 or DP115/3. DP115/1 has since been rebuilt - http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/3328/Lagonda-DP115-V12-Le-Mans.html .

terry eiss EN

2012-08-31 20:43

This car may have been driven by a man called Peter Ling when Dirk Bogarde was meant to be driving in the file. I remember the car being at his house in Cherry Tree Lane, Fulmer, where I lived as a small child, and, somewhere, there are pictures of all of my family waving from the driving seat in turn.

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