Lagonda 1963 Rapide

The Lagonda Rapide was borne out of David Brown’s enthusiasm for the marque that he had purchased in 1948 a year after his acquisition of Aston Martin. After some success with the Lagonda 2.6 litre and 3.0 litre in the fifties he decided to reintroduce the famous ‘Rapide’ name with a much more contemporary car in the early sixties. Introduced at the Motor Show of 1961 the Lagonda Rapide used DB4 underpinnings with an extension in wheelbase of 16” and an increase in track of 3 ½“, to make it a large car by any standards. The new DB4 six cylinder engine was employed but increased to 4.0 litres and a David Brown 4 speed manual or Borg Warner automatic transmission were offered coupled to a new de Dion rear axle. Styling was initially provided by Touring of Milan, utilising the same ‘Superleggera’ principle as the DB4, but finished off in house by Aston Martin themselves. The result was a technically advanced, beautifully put together and undeniably exclusive car that was quick and agile for one of its size. It was also however an expensive car that was styled in many ways to attract the North American market where competition was fierce! The result was that by 1964 only 55 cars had been sold and production of the Rapide was halted. These cars have since grown in popularity as their importance and rarity has been realised.
This particular Rapide was completed in December 1963, chassis number 53 of 55, it left the factory in Aegean Blue with Fawn Connolly and was first registered to Hawker Siddeley Ltd, aircraft manufacturers and is believed to be for the personal use of Chairman Sir Arnold Hall. It returned to the factory on several occasions in the early part of its life before coming into the hands of Sanders & Co Motor Engineers Hendon by 1974. Sold shortly afterward to Mr Channing of Surrey in 1975 and again to Mr McNab from London in 1984. Mr McNab kept the car for some 20 years before eventually parting with in 2003 when it was acquired by its current keeper. A ‘rolling restoration’ was commenced shortly after starting with a 4 speed automatic conversion with various other improvements by Graham Whitehouse, a well known specialist in automatic conversions, to get the car in a more roadworthy condition. Various other works were undertaken over the years before a much more comprehensive restoration was commenced in 2011 with Cotswold Classic Car Restorations. Some £70,000 was spent on the car between 2011 and 2014 to include re-paint and engine re-build all of which is well documented in this vehicles comprehensive history file.