Built 1936 - 1938 told from the ground up.
Origins: a comeback built on Le Mans glory
In June 1935, Lagonda upset Alfa Romeo to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Johnny Hindmarsh and Luis Fontés driving an M45R “Rapide.” That single, headline victory helped attract new backing when the firm promptly hit financial trouble; later that summer, solicitor Alan P. Good rescued Lagonda and hired W.O. Bentley (of Bentley fame) as technical director to modernize the range.
From M45 to LG45: the platform
Bentley’s first task was refining the Meadows-built 4.5-liter straight-six and the chassis that sat under the new LG45 (1936). LG45s evolved through “Sanction” 1–3 engine updates and moved from a G9 to G10 four-speed gearbox (adding synchromesh on 2nd) as the model matured. Two chassis lengths (10’9” and 11’3”) were offered.
Why “Rapide” again? The halo four-seater
To capitalize on Le Mans and give the reborn company a halo model, Lagonda created the LG45 Rapide: a dramatic four-seat open tourer unveiled in late 1936. Its coachwork—by in-house stylist Frank Feeley—featured cutaway doors, sweeping wings and twin external exhausts; Feeley would later design Aston Martin’s DB2. Only about 25 LG45 Rapides were built, making it rarer than almost anything else on British roads at the time.
Engineering & performance
Under the skin sat the 4,453 cc Meadows OHV straight-six in high-compression tune with twin SU carburetors, backed by a four-speed (G9/G10) gearbox, live axles and rod-operated Girling drums. Contemporary road tests confirmed it was a genuine 100-mph car; The Motor saw 108 mph in 1937. Period claims pegged output in the ~130–150 bhp range depending on state of tune.
The racing thread: Fox & Nicholl “team cars”
Parallel to the road Rapide, Lagonda built a quartet of LG45-based competition cars for the semi-works Fox & Nicholl team in 1936 (two four-seaters to meet Le Mans rules and two two-seaters). The 1936 Le Mans race was canceled, but the team cars kept the sporting reputation alive and one (EPE 97) contested Le Mans in 1937. The look and intent of those racers strongly influenced the show-stopping Rapide tourer.
Production & positioning (1936–1938)
The Rapide “broke cover” in September 1936 and remained the LG45 flagship through 1937. With a price around four figures in sterling and exotically racy styling, it sat at the very top of British sporting four-seaters. Total production is generally cited at ~25 cars.
Succession: V12 Rapide and the end of the line
For 1938, Bentley’s all-new V12 arrived, and the LG45 Rapide ceded top billing to the V12 Rapide. The LG45 itself evolved into the LG6 with independent front suspension and hydraulic brakes that year. War loomed; production was short, and the LG45 Rapide’s rarity was sealed.
Why it matters
The LG45 Rapide is the purest expression of Lagonda’s “Good & Bentley” reboot: Le Mans credibility, Feeley’s daring Art-Deco body, and genuinely high performance in a practical four-seat package. With only around 25 built and period tests proving 100-plus mph, it’s now among the most coveted pre-war Lagonda's.
Specification Sheet — Lagonda LG45 Rapide (1936–1938)
Chassis & Suspension
Engine
Transmission
Bodywork
Production
Price when new
Timeline
The LG45 Rapide was thus the bridge between the 1935 Le Mans win and Bentley’s post-war Aston Martin design influence—a rare, fast, and glamorous four-seater symbol of Lagonda’s “second life.”
