Description
This is lot number 545 in the Bonhams Beaulieu Sale on September 14th, please see the Bonhams website for full details.
One of an estimated 65 3½-Litre cars built
Originally bodied as a saloon
Replica T9 Tourer coachwork
Maintained with no expense spared
Said to be running very well
"Summed up, the 3½-litre Lagonda is a car of character which abounds in practical features of the kind appreciated by the motorist of experience. In these days of high-speed engines, the fitting of a big power unit capable of handling high gear ratios is a distinctive characteristic. It would be difficult to select a more appropriate vehicle for fast and lengthy journeys." Motor.
Lagonda's early success had been founded on the production of light cars, but the company changed direction in the mid-1920s with the introduction of the 14/ 60. The latter abandoned the firm's traditional in-unit gearbox in favour of a midships-mounted transmission, but of greater technical interest was the engine. Designed by Arthur Davidson, this advanced 2-litre 'four' featured twin high-mounted camshafts operating inclined valves in hemispherical combustion chambers. Davidson was less adventurous when asked to come up with a larger, six-cylinder engine for the 16/ 65. Originally of 2, 692cc, the overhead-valve unit was enlarged to 2, 931cc (and later to 3, 181cc) to create the 3-Litre model of 1928.
The final incarnation of Lagonda's big six-cylinder engine arrived in 1934 powering the new 3½-litre M35. Displacing 3, 619cc, the seven-bearing unit resided in a short-wheelbase (10' 3") variant of the 3-Litre chassis. Though endowed with highly respectable performance - 90mph was within the tourer's reach on a good day - the M35R was soon superseded by the 4½-litre Meadows-engined M45, a mere 65-or-so 3½-Litre cars being completed before production ceased at the end of 1935.
According to Lagonda Club records, chassis number 'Z11270' was supplied new in December 1934 fitted with 'Silent Travel' pillar-less saloon coachwork and first registered on 14th September 1935. Its original registration was 'WS 5888', an Edinburgh mark. The Club's next record of the car is dated November 1955 when it was in Musselburgh, only six miles from Edinburgh. In 1975 the Lagonda was in Beverley, East Yorkshire and in 1989 in Clitheroe, Lancashire. Don Hoggard had re-bodied the car as a T9 Tourer in the early 1980s, and the body remains in beautiful condition today. Changing hands through a series of auctions, the Lagonda was acquired by an owner in County Wicklow, Republic of Ireland in 2009.
A relatively recent acquisition by our vendor, the car has been maintained regardless of cost: all new wheels and tyres have been fitted recently together with new kingpins, while the brakes, differential, half-shafts and bearings have been overhauled, and the radiator restored. The vendor advises us that the Lagonda, which has been serviced recently, is running very well indeed, with no overheating problems and good oil pressure. Combining strong performance and real style, this gorgeous Lagonda M35R represents a wonderful opportunity to acquire one of these rare and exciting post-Vintage sports tourers.
