LONDON.- 1935 Lagonda 4½-Litre M45 Pillar-less Sports Saloon £60,000 to £80,000
One of the fastest British sporting cars of its era with stunning looks and a powerful 4.5-litre, twin-plug, straight-six, this pillarless saloon is an ideal owner/driver fast express. GUIDE PRICE: £60,000 - £80,000
Rob Hubbard, Director of Sales at
Silverstone Auctions, comments: “Offered from a prominent private collection, this rare pillar-less sports saloon is running and driving beautifully and must surely be the ultimate owner/driver Lagonda.”
Lagonda’s sales brochure announcing the new M45, a powerful model boasting some 4 ½ litres and rightly regarded as one of the most desirable of all post-vintage thoroughbred (PVT) offerings at the time, stated: “If the best British workmanship and the finest materials appeal to you, and if character, sweet running and a maximum speed…are qualities that attract you, there is no need to look further; you will find them in this British car.”
Launched in 1933, it was powered by the 6-cylinder, 4,453cc overhead valve engine designed by Henry Meadows, which had been progressively developed since 1928. Like all of Meadows’ engines it was robust and, if anything, over-engineered, enabling the more sporting enthusiast in later years to tune it to good effect without serious consequences. At the time of its launch it was the largest-engined British sports-car available, even Bentley occupying the lower ranks with their relatively new 3½ litre model. Unlike Bentley, who did not produce their own coachwork at that point, the Staines factory offered a range of attractive factory-built bodies including both open and closed cars.
Such bespoke coachbuilders as Vanden Plas, Gurney-Nutting and Freestone & Webb were also to clothe the M45 chassis but few matched the elegance of the factory models particularly the carefully designed, pillar-less ‘Silent Travel’ models which provided superb access for rear-seat passengers through rear-hinged rear doors. Occasionally known by the generic term ‘Top-Hat Saloons’, these designs enabled a ‘Gentleman’ to take his seat in the rear without removing his top hat, although we have our doubts that this would work if you were over 5 feet 6 inches tall. Inevitably this resulted in sightly rectangular lines but in the case of the MT34 here, this was softened by rather ‘swoopy’ ski-jump running boards and a two-tone colour scheme.
The closed coachwork enabled the coachbuilder to fully demonstrate his skills in providing maximum comfort and luxury for the middle and upper-class owners of this model. For many years elderly saloons have lived rather in the shadow of open tourers however today’s connoisseur fully recognises the fine additional coachbuilding qualities and excellent appointments of such models and rare survivors of the closed cars are increasingly sought after.
This Lagonda M45, Silent Travel-bodied, pillar-less saloon (#Z11155) was purchased in Birmingham around 14 years ago by its previous owner, the late Brinley 'Brin' Edwards. It was driven back to his home in Cornwall and used only for the occasional wedding and school prom prior to being offered for sale at Goodwood in March 2018 where it was purchased by our vendor. He immediately entrusted it to marque specialist, David Ayre, to carry out extensive servicing and recommissioning and the appropriate invoices for this work are in the history file.
Today, the car presents delightfully in light blue between a gloss black roof and similarly coloured wings and running boards. The extensive chromework appears in fine fettle and the car sits on silver-painted wire wheels. The interior is everything you hoped it might be with what looks to be recently refurbished seating clothed in Sky Blue leather with matching door cards and Navy Blue Carpets. The Deco-influenced door panels are veneered in Mahogany with light wood cross-banding and present well and the dashboard, instruments and controls appear original and display the patina of a lifetime of use.
1939 Lagonda V12 Sports Saloon - £80,000 TO £100,000
Highly original, sheer quality, style, and elegance propelled by a silky-smooth V12 engine, these delightful Lagondas are considered by many connoisseurs to be the ultimate pre-war saloon.
Rob Hubbard says of this car: “The real beauty of FYE 999 is how original and untouched it is and when combined with the engine rebuild a few years ago, the comfort offered by the long-wheelbase, the legendary smoothness of Lagonda's big V12, the model's rarity and a sensible guide, this seems an opportunity not to be missed.”
Often regarded as the finest of W.O.Bentley’s efforts, the Lagonda V12 was by far the standout British model of its day, seated firmly in an exclusive club of 1930s road cars that could exceed 100mph in standard tune. Launched in 1936 at the Olympia Motor Show, the new V12 was the ultimate expression of a talented gruoup of young designers of the era, with a simple design ethos; sportscar pace and performance with limousine comfort.
The fabulous V12, inspired by contemporary aero engines, featured twin-overhead camshafts (one per bank), twin SU carburettors, a combined duplex-chain / gear-driven timing system and a Lanchester-type vibration damper. The 4.5-litre unit could deliver an ample 180bhp at 5,500rpm, driven through a sporty, centrally-mounted, four-speed manual gearbox and conventional pedal layout.
Deliveries did not commence until 1938, with a mere 189 chassis being fully-clothed before the commencement of World War Two ended production. The advanced chassis employed double-wishbone independent front suspension and was made available with a varied choice of coachwork; the short-chassis V12 Rapide roadster of course provided even more performance and desirability. Of the Lagonda V12s produced between 1938 and 1940, under 100 are thought to have survived to the present day.
This remarkable example (#16061 - FYE 999) is a long-wheelbase car that was fitted from new with the factory, four-door, four-seat bodywork and was delivered a month before WW2 broke out. By 1953, it was a part of the renowned Ellard Collection where it remained, unused, until the 1980s, after which it moved to Jersey for a short time. When the Lagonda was offered for sale at Brooks' auction at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu in September 1999 its paint, chrome, leather and woodwork were said to be original and in very good order. The catalogue also noted that in 1990 £14,000 had been spent on an engine rebuild by Brunts of Silverdale as well as a chassis and brake overhaul whilst, in 1999, £12,000 had been spent on re-commissioning, a fairly expensive ten years of ownership considering the car covered only some 500-or-so miles in that period.
It remains finished in Masons Black with red coach lines with the paint in good order throughout and the interior displays the gentle patina of decades of use with the original red leather to the seats and door cards. The Burr Walnut dash is likewise all original giving a delightful period ambience and the whole car appears cared for and unmolested. We understand that our vendor's workshops have just fully gone though the car and, having been freshly serviced, is running well.
