The Lagonda Rapide is a hand built full-sized luxury four-door

grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...

which was produced from 1961 until 1964.

Description

Based on the

Aston Martin DB4 The DB4 is a grand tourer that was produced by Aston Martin from 1958 until 1963. Technically the DB4 was not a development of the DB Mark III it replaced, nor did it evolve into the DB5. It had a platform rather than a tubular chassis with a ...

, it was David Brown's attempt to revive the

Lagonda Lagonda is a British luxury car brand established in 1906, which has been owned by Aston Martin since 1947. The trade-name has not had a continuous commercial existence, being dormant several times, most recently from 1995 to 2008 and 2010 to 2 ...

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

which he had purchased in 1948 and not used since the 3.0 litre cars of the 1950s stopped production in 1958. It marked a revival of the Rapide model name which had been used by Lagonda during the 1930s. The car was styled by

Carrozzeria Touring Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera is an Italian automobile coachbuilder. Originally established in Milan in 1925, Carrozzeria Touring became well known for both the beauty of its designs and patented superleggera construction methods. The bus ...

and featured rear-end styling similar to the DB4 convertible, and an adapted Lagonda grille a little similar to

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

Edsel Edsel is a discontinued division and brand of automobiles that was marketed by the Ford Motor Company from the 1958 to the 1960 model years. Deriving its name from Edsel Ford, son of company founder Henry Ford, Edsels were developed in an effort ...

Specifications

The Rapide uses a 4.0 L

straight-6 The straight-six engine (also referred to as an inline-six engine; abbreviated I6 or L6) is a piston engine with six cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. A straight-six engine has perfect primary and secondary engine bal ...

six cylinder

double overhead camshaft An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

engine, which would later be used in the

Aston Martin DB5 The Aston Martin DB5 is a British grand tourer (GT) produced by Aston Martin and designed by Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. Originally produced from 1963 to 1965, the DB5 was an evolution of the final series of DB4. Alt ...

. Other new features included a

de Dion tube De Dion rear axle A de Dion tube is a form of non-independent automobile suspension. It is a considerable improvement over the swing axle, Hotchkiss drive, or live axle. Because it plays no part in transmitting power to the drive wheels, it is ...

rear suspension which would find its way into the

Aston Martin DBS The Aston Martin DBS is a grand tourer produced by the British manufacturer Aston Martin Lagonda Limited from 1967 to 1972. From 2007 to 2012 the DBS name was resurrected for a new model, the Aston Martin DBS V12. DBS (1967–1972) The DBS w ...

. The car has dual-circuit, servo-assisted, four-wheel

disc brakes A disc brake is a type of brake that uses the calipers to squeeze pairs of pads against a disc or a "rotor" to create friction. This action slows the rotation of a shaft, such as a vehicle axle, either to reduce its rotational speed or to hol ...

, and most cars were supplied with a 3-speed automatic

BorgWarner BorgWarner Inc. is an American automotive supplier headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The company maintains production facilities and technical systems at 93 sites (as of June 6, 2022) in 22 countries worldwide and has around 49,000 emplo ...

gearbox. The exterior body panels were constructed from aluminium alloy over a

Superleggera Superleggera (Italian for ''Superlight'') is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. A separate chassis was s ...

tubular steel frame. All cars except for the prototype had their bodies constructed by Lagonda. The interior was upholstered in leather and had a burled walnut dashboard.

Production

The car was hand-built to order only, with a base price of £4,950. 55 were produced, of which 48 survive.

Shooting Brake

One Rapide was converted into a

station wagon A station wagon ( US, also wagon) or estate car ( UK, also estate), is an automotive body-style variant of a sedan/saloon with its roof extended rearward over a shared passenger/cargo volume with access at the back via a third or fifth door ( ...

in 2005–2006 by the Carrosserie Company Ltd. of Barnard Castle, England. File:Lagonda_Rapide_Shooting_Brake_front.jpg, Lagonda Rapide

(front) File:Lagonda_Rapide_Shooting_Brake_rear.jpg, Lagonda Rapide

(rear)

References

www.lagonda-rapide.com – Website about the Aston Martin Lagonda Rapide 1961 – 1964
* {{Aston Martin Rapide 1960s cars Cars introduced in 1961

Description

Specifications

Production

Shooting Brake

See also

References