A 4 1/2 litre Lagonda Correction

The muddle goes on. Last month we tried to sort out the 1934 Fox and Nicholl Lagondas and while getting the cars right an error crept in on the Meadows engines. The cylinder bore was printed at 85 mm., whereas it should have been 88.5 mm,, whereas the stroke was alright at 120 mm. or variations thereof.

A reader from Leeds, Mr. W. A. Oldroyd has put it exactly right in a letter as follows:

“No Henry Meadows engine used by Lagonda had any other bore than 88.5 mm., which in conjunction with a stroke of 120.65 mm. (4.75 in.) gave 4,453 c.c. This capacity was quoted by all literature and works manuals by Lagonda Ltd. However, in the dim and distant past when this engine was first designed all British designers used inches and fractions of inches. Thus, 3 1/2-in. bore by 4 3/4-in. stroke. Convert to metric is 88.9 x 120.65-4,492 c.c. Somebody made a printer’s error to 4,429 c.c. The confusion started then and still persists . . .”

All I can add is that I shall have to spend less time in the workshop and more time in the study. -D. S. J.