LAGONDA (Great Britain) 1906-1963, 1978 to date

Wilbur Gunn was an American of Scots descent who began by building twin-cylinder tricars in the greenhouse of his home in Staines, Middlesex.

By 1907 the tricars had been superseded by four wheels, with four-cylinder 20 hp and six-cylinder 30 hp models being offered: much of the production went to Russia. In 1913, Gunn scrapped his previous models and decided to adopt just one line, an 1100cc 11.1 hp car with unit-construction gearbox and transverse front suspension, a marketing policy and design clearly inspired by the Ford Model T. Another progressive feature was the integral body/chassis construction.

After World War One, the 11.1 became the 11.9, so that in 1920 Lagonda was clearly chasing the same market as Morris. As the 1920s progressed Lagonda gave up the unequal struggle, chancing their luck in the sports car field, 1927 seeing the appearance of the 2-litre dohc Speed Model; a pushrod 2 litre later appeared.

From 1934 the Meadows six-cylinder 4 1/2 litre engine was fitted, this engine powering the company's winning car at Le Mans in 1935. The twin-cam 1100cc Rapier also appeared in 1934, but the following year the company went broke and was purchased by solicitor Alan Good for £67,000. The Rapier was hived off and Good brought in W. O. Bentley as technical director. The range was refined and the Meadows engine quietened, but the V-12 of 1937 was Bentley's design (though the inspiration and much of the detail of this short-stroke 4 1/2 litre engine came from ex-Rolls-Royce engineer Stewart Tresilian).

Lagonda was sold to the David Brown group after World War Two, this 1947 deal allowing Brown to fit a Bentley-designed dohc 2.6 litre six-cylinder engine to the Aston Martin DB2 of 1950. The Lagonda marque name reappeared in 1961. The Rapide was DB-engined, but production ceased in 1963.

An Aston Martin-based Lagonda with elaborate electronic controls began to reach private owners in 1978.

1932 Lagonda Speed Tourer

©VEA