1933 Lagonda M45 4½-Litre Tourer, Registration no. APL 209 Chassis no. Z10585

* One of the fastest British sports cars of its era
* Current ownership since 1958
* Raced in the 1960s
* Restored in the 1980s
* Last used circa 2013

'Lagonda cars have always upheld a reputation for effortless fast touring and the pride of ownership which fine detail work and distinguished coachbuilding can give. The 4½-Litre model retains these characteristics, but scores considerably over its forebears by its high power-to-weight ratio. The chassis is no bigger than the three litre car, and there is no suggestion of clumsiness, heavy steering or the other drawbacks which often accompany the large engined car.' - Motor Sport, January 1934.

The 4½-Litre Lagonda was one of the most accomplished sports cars of the 1930s, as a succession of high-profile race wins, culminating in victory at Le Mans in 1935, amply demonstrates. In 1934 a team of three specially prepared short-chassis cars (effectively the soon-to-be-announced M45 Rapide) prepared by Lagonda main agents Fox & Nicholl performed creditably at the RAC Tourist Trophy at Ards, and the following year one of these TT cars driven by John Hindmarsh and Luis Fontes won the Le Mans 24-Hour endurance classic outright.

The Lagonda car company was founded in 1906 in Staines, Middlesex by the American Wilbur Gunn (1859-1920) who named it after a river near his home town of Springfield, Ohio. Gunn had started out building motorcycles in the garden of his house in Staines with some success, including winning the 1905 London to Edinburgh Trial. In 1907 he launched his first car and in 1910 won the Moscow to St Petersburg Trial driving a 16/18hp model. Having established its reputation, Lagonda concentrated mainly on the production of light cars before reverting to sporting and luxury models in the mid-1920s with the introduction of the 14/60. This four-cylinder, 2.0-litre model was joined in 1929 by the first of Lagonda's own sixes - the 3-Litre - but by the mid-1930s the Meadows-engined cars were seen as the way forward. Introduced at the 1933 Olympia Show and based on the preceding ZM 3-Litre model, the M45 deployed Meadows' 4½-litre, twin-plug six to good effect, saloons being capable of reaching 90mph and tourers 'the ton' under favourable conditions.

'A short run on one of the first of the 4½-Litre Lagonda models, with an open four-seater body, left a vivid impression not only of brilliant acceleration and sheer performance, but of a car delightfully silent and easy running in a way that can be achieved to the fullest extent only by a big-engined machine working well inside its limits,' reported The Autocar in 1933. As the foregoing contemporary quote clearly demonstrates, these exceptionally handsome big-engined Lagondas created a considerable impression when new.

Known as 'Apple' in Lagonda circles (after its 'APL' registration), this M45 was purchased in July 1958 and raced by Brin Edwards in VSCC events in the 1960s. Retired from racing, it was stored in a garage in Essex for three years and then transported to Cornwall in the early 1970s. Subsequently the Lagonda was restored, being completely stripped down to the chassis, which was shot-blasted and zinc sprayed. A new body was built and the car re-sprayed by a firm in Liskeard.

'Apple' was running well when last used circa 2013 and is presented in generally very good condition. Accompanying documentation consists of an old-style continuation logbook (issued May 1957), SORN (November 2015), an old-style V5C, and a quantity of expired MoTs dating back to the 1990s (most recent expired 2006).