105 mph in top gear and revving to 5000 rpm. Tresilian left in early 1938 for a Hawker Siddeley subsidiary. Development of the V12 was not complete but Lagonda's financial difficulties prompted more staff to leave. The car was exhibited at the 1939 New York Motor Show. The New York Times commented: "The highest price car in the show this year is tagged $8,900. It is a Lagonda, known as the "Rapide" model, imported from England. The power plant is a twelve-cylinder V engine developing 200 horsepower." During the war W. O. worked on armaments at Lagonda. Towards the end of the war he began work on a new straight-6 engine, as it was clear that the V12 would be seen as too extravagant for the postwar market. The team developed a modern dual overhead cam straight-6 engine with an initial displacement of 2.6 L (2580 cc/157 in3). With a 78 mm (3.07 in) bore and 90 mm (3.543 in) stroke, it produced about 105 hp (78 kW) with dual SU carburettors. It would not reach the market until 1948. Due to a shortage of materials, the Ministry of Supply, whose wartime controls over the allocation of steel would remain in force from 1945 to 1954, had allocated Lagonda the steel for only 100 cars. Although the Ministry's controls were intended to maintain supply to existing manufacturers, they were applied unevenly—while Lagonda had tooled up for quantity production and provided evidence of a substantial export order book, David Brown's companies were able to obtain the steel they required. One consequence of the controls was that aluminium was used in the construction of Land-Rovers, winning them an unintended reputation for not rusting. In August, 1947, J. R. Greenwood, Chairman of Lagonda, announced that although work had begun on the first 1,000 of the new Bentley-designed -litre cars, the project had been cancelled owing to continuing production difficulties and the recently imposed double purchase tax. While Lagonda would continue with its other engineering activities, including the manufacture of a diesel-powered pile-driver, the company notified its 1,600 workers that some of them would inevitably become redundant. David Brown, Feltham, Middlesex A month later, in mid-September it was announced that the Lagonda specification had been bought by David Brown & Sons (Huddersfield) Limited, gear-wheel manufacturer, which would combine production with Aston Martin bought earlier that year. Production was moved to Feltham, Middlesex. Brown had