RICHARD BIRD
The Light Car
2 Litre High chassis and Low chassis
The 16/65 3 and 3,5 litre cars
16/80
The M45 and M45 Rapide
The Rapier
W.O. Bentley´s involvement
V12
Specifications
Lagonda´s founder, Wilbur Gunn, first came to England (from Ohio) as an opera singer. His immortality, however, was won not on the stage but in the engineering workshop. The two seater coupe Light Car of 1913 was followed by the exquisite and technically innovative tourers, saloons, Semi-sports, 2-Litre High and Low Chassis models of the 1920s, and their 1930s 3-Litre development. Richard Bird has photographed the legendary M45 that won Le Mand in 1935 and the 1937 Rapide, fitted with W.O.Bentley´s V12, that could accelerate from seven to 105 mph in top gear.