Duke’s are delighted to be offering at auction this stunning Lagonda Rapier Abbott Tourer, 1935.
Registration Number: BOJ365
Engine number: R3219
Chassis Number: D10819
The Lagonda Rapier was produced by the British Lagonda company from 1934 and registered up until March 1936. Only 381 have been produced, including those assembled by Rapier cars Ltd post-1936. They were designed to be a fast tourer, not for competition. Central to the design of the car was Thomas “Tim” Ashcroft’s newly designed, twin-overhead-camshaft, four-cylinder engine. This was able to produce 50 bhp, a huge power output for an engine of its size, resulting in a top speed of 75mph. Alongside this, the vehicle utilised a sturdy steel chassis, which allowed it to fully live up to its “tourer” design. Also, in 1934, Autotrader described the Girling brake mechanism as ‘quite the best we have tried’.
This example underwent restoration through the 1960s and several improvements have been made, which are all recorded in a comprehensive service history. An obituary for the former owner of this car, which appeared in the January 1973 edition of Rapier News, stated: ‘Malcolm did a superb job on the restoration of this car and it won many concours prizes’. This vehicle had a complete engine rebuild in 2017 by long term Rapier expert, David Fletcher-Jones. The car was fitted with high compression pistons and high lift cams, the thought is that this was originally intended by the car’s designer, Tim Ashcroft.
This Lagonda will appear in the Classic Car and Transport Memorabilia sale, taking place on the 10th of September 2020.
Estimate: £45,000-55,000
Contact Head of Department William Batt for more information