Lagonda for sale
American expatriate and former opera singer Wilbur Gunn founded the Lagonda Car Company in Staines, Middlesex in 1906. It is named after a river near Gunn's hometown of Springfield, Ohio.Initially Gunn made, sold and raced motorcycles from his small garden house in Staines. With engines powering the front wheel, they had a reputation for reliability and speed. Gunn had some racing success, too, winning the 1905 London to Edinburgh trial.
Lagonda introduced its first car in 1907, a six-cylinder 20hp vehicle called the "Torpedo." The car was sporty and speedy enough to win several races, including the Moscow to St. Petersburg reliability trials, which sparked a flurry of 20hp and 30hp exports to Russia.
Gunn apparently agreed to Henry Ford's premise that the future of the automobile lay in smaller, cheaper vehicles. In 1913, Lagonda released the 11.1 hp, a tiny coupe and the first car built without a chassis frame. This was followed by a four-seater and van in 1914 and then a larger 11.9 hp after WWI, during which automobile production was put on hold. The 11.9 hp evolved into the 12 hp in 1926.
Following Wilbur Gunn's death in 1920, Colin Parbury took the helm and hired Arthur Davidson of Lea-Francis to design several sports models. The 14/60 had a twin-cam 4-cylinder engine and hemispherical combustion chambers. In 1927, Lagonda released the Speed Model with a 2-litre engine. Other sports versions in that line included the 16/65 (1926) and the Lagonda 3-litre (1929).
New models in the 1930s included the 16-80 (1933), the Rapier (1934), the M45 (1934) and the M45R Rapide (1935). The Rapide went on to win the Le Mans in 1935.
As with many, many automakers, financial hardship hit Lagonda during the Great Depression and the company was purchased by Alan P. Good in 1935. Good brought in W. O. Bentley as designer and engineer, who went on to develop the LG45, the LG45R Rapide and the LG6, among others, all having lots of Bentley flourishes, such as lower and heavier bodies and more powerful engines.
In 1947, Aston Martin bought out Lagonda and the marque has only had a few appearances since. In 1961 the name Rapide was used on an aluminum-bodied model. In 1976, a futuristic model called the Aston Martin Lagonda, a low, wedge-shaped car was introduced, lasting through 1989.
In 2011, Aston Martin confirms the revival of the Lagonda brand, targeted this time at a range of high-end SUVs.
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