Tuesday, November 26, 2013

A Man and His Car

Bob was a car enthusiast.  I'm sure you have seen the photos of Bob and his latest prize.  There was the 1931 Cadillac...

Then there was the 1933 Cadillac ...

The 1933 Cadillac was a 452C V16 Convertible Victoria, one of two made with its particular features.  It cost $7,500 new (a LOT of money in the midst of the Depression!) and sold for $412,000 when up for auction in 2009.  Check out all the dials on the dashboard, not your basic Model A for sure. 

In 1935 he buys a Bentley while in England and uses it on a driving tour of Europe with Betty.  Now that's the way to travel.  He has it shipped home and is seen below with Bob arriving at the studio. 


And lastly, an auto I ran across recently, but no Bob with car photo as yet, a 1939 Lagonda V-12 Rapide Sports Roadster, with engineering by W. O. Bentley, originator of Bentley Motors. Bob test drove it at the Brooklands race track in England before having it delivered to Beverly Hills.  This Lagonda was the very last one bodied by the firm before WWII.  It cost Bob $8,900.





It sold at auction in Feb., 2012, for $900,000.  Bob had great taste.

4 comments:

Carrie said...

Wow, that Lagonda is slick for the time

Kathy said...

Yes, that's a real WOW car. It could go from "7 to 105 mph in top gear and rev up to 5,000 rpm". It must've been a real thrill to have accepted a ride from Bob --- in more ways than one, I'm sure.

Hjeltness said...

Found your blog while looking up Robert Mongomery and his Lagonda to see what I could see! This is one of 19 Rapides the factory produced and the only one w/ Vanden Plas coachwork. Hjeltness Restoration took the Lord Montague Award at Pebble Beach Concours de Elegance when Bentley was the honored marque in 2000? or so. This was significant because W.O.Bentley designed the Lagonda V12s and even campaigned 2 or them for the factory at LeMans in 39. This was in essence the latest Bentley design because he left Bentley for Lagonda when he sold Bentley to Rolls Royce. Our customer was beside himself to take the award from all those Bentleys on the field that day!

In 1939 The actor Robert Montgomery ordered it and took delivery in Beverly Hills. The car left England just as they entered WWII

Carrie said...

Thanks for stopping by and posting! Beautiful car & restoration!