1936 Lagonda LG45 Drop head Coupe

Chassis number: 12104

Registration number: HXV183 (Previous)

Fully Nut & bolt restored some years ago; this car has seen very sparing dry weather only use ever since & has also been the winner of some Lagonda club awards. Unusually the car was specified from new with an extra large boot allowing for long continental trips with luggage. The car is in immaculate prize winning condition to this day. When we arrived to photograph it the car started instantly as did all the cars in the collection & has clearly been fastidiously looked after having covered just a few thousand miles since restoration was completed.

The restoration was a nut & bolt body off affair. New ash wood was let in as & where required once the frame was exposed. Upon reassembly the car had a paint job of superb quality in a shade of pale grey. All the mechanics were disassembled & rebuilt as required to as new specification. Grey Connolly hides were sourced for the interior along with a blue double duck roof & hood bag giving the car & elegant & striking appearance. A full set of photographs come with the car detailing the extensive restoration undertaken.

Through the Twenties and early Thirties, a confusing array of models and bodies characterized Lagondas but in 1933 Lagonda began to modify its 'Selector' chassis to accept the 4 1/2 Liter Meadows overhead valve six cylinder engine which had become available in quantity when Invicta, its contracted user, went into receivership.

Quickly implemented, the new M45 enjoyed immediate success with 108 horsepower and attractive, low coachwork designed and built in Lagonda's own coachworks at a price some 600 pounds less than a comparable Bentley, and at that price the Bentley had yet to be bodied.

That was not, however, sufficient to ensure success in the midst of the depression and in 1936 Lagonda was bought out of receivership by Alan Good. He installed Dick Watney (from Rootes) as Managing Director and W.O. Bentley as Technical Director and set out to build 'the best car in the world', with a V-12 engine designed by Stuart Tresilian from Rolls-Royce.

In the meantime, however, a reset was necessary. That was the LG45, a thoroughly redesigned model with a new W.O. Bentley-designed X-braced frame and wishbone independent front suspension with torsion bars. New coachwork was essential to establish the revitalized Lagonda's identity and it was designed by a young Frank Feeley whose later designs for Aston Martin would establish him as one of the foremost body visionaries of the mid-century years.

His LG45 designs, tourer, saloon and new drophead coupe, were superb, with long, sensuosly swelling, sweeping fenders, a long bonnet, dual sidemount enclosures (one holding the spare wheel and tire, the other the tool set and jack) and a clean, integrated grille and front fender valences that hid the front suspension. The drophead coupe's top incorporated an efficient folding mechanism and simple profile when erected.

This 1936 Lagonda LG45 Drophead Coupe is chassis number 12104, one of just a few Sanction 2 LG45s built with a revised location for the dual ignition's pair of magnetos.

The car is located in Belgium & may be viewed there by prior appointment. It has been part of a small collection for a number of years & is now being sold due to the advanced age of the current owner. It is 1930's elegance at its finest & is a fast powerful open tourer in the style of a grand routier.

Richard Biddulph 07967 260673