Originally the property of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands and known by subsequent keepers as ‘Penelope’ this stunning car featured extensively in the authoritative book ‘Lagonda’ by Bernd Holthusen.
It comes to auction with H&H Classics at Duxford Imperial War Museum on March 18 with an estimate of £200,000 to £250,000.
The drophead coupe which was the property of Prince Bernhard was beautifully restored by the late Peter When man of Vintage Coachworks during 1992-1993 and is still highly presentable. The LG6 was invited to the 2016 Dutch Paleis Het Loo Concours d’Elegance where it won its class. The four-seater was also an award winner with the Lagonda Club in both 1959 and 2003!
“A very special Post Vintage Thoroughbred” says Damian Jones of H&H Classics. The Lagonda was used by the vendor to learn how to drive whilst it belonged to his father from 1958-1962 and has been in the current ownership since 2002.
Prince Bernhard was the German-born consort to Holland’s Queen Juliana. His life embraced triumph and scandal.Bernhard Leopold Frederik Everhard Julius Coert Karel Godfried Pieter, Prince of the Netherlands lived to be 93 from 1911 to 2004.
His life was full of drama, twists and turns. Having bought the LG6 new in 1938, he moved to England when Holland fell to the Nazis two years later. Volunteering his services to Allied Intelligence, he was vetted by Ian Fleming of James Bond fame and later flew various missions over Continental Europe under the assumed name of ‘Wing Commander Gibbs’. In 1944 he held the rank of commander-in-chief of the Dutch armed forces. Later it emerged that he had had early links to the Nazi party and in 1976 he was exposed for taking bribes in the global Lockheed scandal.
Juliana chose Bernhard as her future husband after meeting him at the winter Olympics in Bavaria in 1936 and they married the following year. For 30 years, he travelled the world promoting the economic and cultural interests of the Netherlands, as well as his pet causes, setting up the Bilderberg Circle, a private forum for frank discussion of world issues by the west’s great and good. He was also president of the World Wildlife Foundation and the International Equestrian Federation.
The Lagonda was used by Prince Bernhard while based in Britain during the war. A very keen car enthusiast he owned more than 60 cars in his lifetime, one of his favourites was a uniquely green 1965 Ferrari 500 Superfast Speziale. Prince Bernard arrived in the UK with the Dutch Royal Family in June 1940, right after the Germans invaded Holland in May 1940.
In 1940 he founded ‘The Spifire Fund’, a fund that acquired war equipment, that formed the basis of the now well-known Prince Bernhard Culture Fund, supporting cultural projects.
1940: Liaison officer between the Dutch and British armed forces.
1941: Honorary Air Commodore at the RAF
1943: Founder of 322 Dutch Squadron RAF, mainly escort flights, V1 interception and combat and ground attacks.