<< Prev Page 2 of 2 At the very first test, with David Brown at the wheel, the Lagonda with code name 'DP115' caught fire. The car was repaired in time before the 1954 Silverstone sportscar race and Reg Parnell drove it to a fifth position, well behind the Ferraris and Jaguars, but ahead of the three-litre class winning Astons. At that time the engine produced around 310 bhp, whereas the Ferraris topped 350. Another problem was that the engine would not fire up in cold conditions, so it had to be preheated by filling the radiator with hot water. Parnell also complained about the handling characteristics, but there was no time and budget available to rectify the problems before Le Mans.
For Le Mans the four speed gearbox was replaced by a five speeder and the nose of the Lagonda modified with a single large air-intake similar to the one on the DB3S. Initially two DP115s were entered, but one was withdrawn and replaced by a fourth DB3S before the race. The Lagonda's poor handling characteristics did not quite suit the wet conditions and Eric Thompson spun off the track violently after just two hours, while lying in third position. He did manage to bring the car back to the pit, but it was damaged too severely to be repaired in the pits. None of the Astons managed to reach the finish either. The second DP115 made its debut at a support race for the British Grand Prix and finished fourth behind three Astons. Neither car was raced again in period.
Even though the 1954 results were far from promising, David Brown refused to give up on the V12 engine. He commissioned the construction of a brand new multi-tubular spaceframe/backbone chassis for the 1955 season. Two examples were constructed and known as the DP166. They used the same engines as the DP115 and one was entered at Le Mans. It retired after just 94 laps with fuel feed problems and that really was the end of the V12 program. There was good news for Brown as one of the DB3S Astons entered finished in second overall and first in class. The backbone chassis of both DP166s were later reused to form the mighty Aston Martin DBR2s. << Prev Page 2 of 2