In 1947 Brown heard through Tony Scratchard, the distributor of Lagonda cars in Bradford that Lagonda was in financial trouble and was for sale. While he initially took no interest in the company, when a liquidator was later appointed to sell off the company's assets, Brown sensing an opportunity visited the company. There he met with the famed engine designer W. O. Bentley, who showed him an engine called the LB6 which he had been working on for the company. It was a modern twin-cam 6-cylinder engine of 2,580 cc. Brown saw the engine as ideal for his new generation of Aston Martin models. Aware that Armstrong Siddeley, Jaguar and Rootes were also interested in the company and the liquidator was seeking offers of £250,000 Brown still decided to submit an offer, though he knew it would be the lowest. Because of the tight economic conditions and the rationing of steel, the other bidders dropped out. While the liquidator was able to sell the factory buildings to another company, to Brown's surprise he was able to obtain for £52,500 the rest of the company as well as the rights to the new engine.