1934 Lagonda M45 Pillar-less Saloon

• Single family ownership for over 50 years
• Rare factory coachwork
• Last driven around 2005/2006
• Offered for restoration

"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endowed with highly respectable performance - 90mph was within the tourer's reach on a good day - the M35R was soon superseded by the 4½-litre Meadows-engined M45, a mere 65-or-so 3½-Litre cars being completed before production ceased at the end of 1935.
This Lagonda M45 was their family car when the vendor and her siblings were children in the 1970s. According to the vendor: "Our Lagonda has given us so much pleasure over the years. My father had appalled his mother by buying two Lagonda's while he was a student studying engineering at Cambridge University. One car was used to provide spares for the main vehicle. It was driven regularly until 2000, including family holidays as far north as the Isle of Skye and Mull, and as far south as Devon. We also had annual trips to the Henley Royal Regatta and various Lagonda club meetings around the country.

"The car was last driven around 2005/2006. Due to family commitments our father was never able to complete the restoration project he had planned. Sadly, he died suddenly and unexpectedly late in 2023. None of us has the skills he had to continue maintaining the vehicle, so we are selling it with great sadness but in the hope it will find a good new home where it can be cherished and brought back to full life." Offered with a V5 document.