Lagonda
Born out of a motorcycling past the cars developed their lighter cars until 1925 when they started to expand into larger cars, with 2 litre four cylinders and 2 .5 and 3 litre sixes. They also later bought in Crossley built six cylinder engines after 1933, which they re worked. At this time things changed with the introduction of the sporty twin cam Rapier while at the same time the Meadows engined M45 was to be the basis of the models to follow. The lower and handsome LG series was developed in 1935 after WO Bentley joined the company, after being unshackled from employment at Rolls Royce. This was followed by WO's all alloy V12 design in 1937, as well as an updated version of the LG6. After the war came the new 6 cylinder engine designed by WO Bentley, and it was shortly after this time that the Lagonda company was taken over by David Brown, who used this WO Bentley designed engine in the new Aston Martin. The same engine was also deployed in the 2.6 litre Lagonda Mk1 and Mk2's spanning 1946 to 1956, with the 3 litre version in the Series 1 and 2 built from 1953 to 1958 (known as the Vantage engine). Reviving the Lagonda name in 1961 was the new Lagonda Rapide with 4 door alloy body which was in production until 1964.
