1934 Lagonda M45 Tourer

The Lagonda M45 was launched at the 1933 Olympia Motor Show and was an immediate success. Essentially the company fitted a 4½-litre, twin-plug six cylinder engine into their existing 3½ litre chassis with impressive results. Lagonda’s marketing chaps had a field day and droned on about high cruising speeds, exceptional performance and dignified lines. Their promotional material featured the car at a polo match and boldly stated that this was “Probably the most impressive looking car on the road”. The car was a hit and rightly so.

The Lagonda records show that ‘CGU’ was completed on the 27th August 1934. It was fitted with the desirable T8 Tourer coachwork and was despatched to main London dealers Warwick Wright who sold ‘CGU’ to the first owner Mr. W.H.A. Markant of Bath. He brought the car back to the Lagonda works for servicing in 1936 and 1937 and went on to keep the car for 19 years. As shown on a copy buff logbook on file subsequent known owners of the car are- Cyril Cadwaladr 1954, George Cooper, Mr A.F. Hooke, Birmingham Car Sales , Michael Hemming-Allen, and Harry Worthington.

Brothers George and David Dickson bought ‘CGU’ in from Worthington in May 1963. The car remained with the Dickson’s for over thirty years but it is thought they only used it for about 2 years and then stored it in a garage in Sussex along with another M45 they owned. George, ended up as a Consultant Surgeon in Worthing and met the next owner when he had carried out an operation on him. In March 1990 ‘CGU’ passed into the care of Terry Brown of West Sussex.

Brown was a professional motor engineer and former owner of a garage. In buying ‘CGU’ he had purchased a complete, very original but rather tired M45 and commenced a full body off restoration of the car. During the 1990’s he carried out a lot of the mechanical work himself calling upon particular experts as required. The history file contains a wealth of photographs of taken by Brown in this period recording its progress.

The car was stripped to the bare chassis which was then shot blasted and powder coated. Every part that was refitted was overhauled and painted, replacing as necessary. During the course of this the wings were found to be in very poor shape so exact replacements were fabricated by John Appleby, at the same time the boot-lid and scuttle were re-made in aluminium and steel respectively as per the original, with timber replaced as necessary See images on file.

At an early stage of the restoration it was decided that the original engine was in good enough condition and only required a decoke and valve grind. Once put back to work it started to get a little smokey on the over-run and that would not do. Accordingly in 2018 the engine was removed and totally overhauled by respected specialists Formhalls. There are invoices on file for circa £ 28,000 and numerous new parts provided by the Lagonda Club. This work was carried out just before Covid and ‘CGU’ has seen very little use since. The engine also now benefits from a modern Full Flow Oil Filter system, fitted by David Ayre, the Lagonda specialist in place of the very primitive original gauze filter.

The original gearbox is in generally good condition but making noise in first and second. Accordingly CGU’ is supplied with an as new M45 gearbox (original specification ) with New Gears and Bearings fitted. This gearbox was used by Neve Engineering as the patten for producing the new run of gears for the Lagonda Club.

The dynamo was recently overhauled and a new wiring loom fitted during the rebuild

The rear axle has a new high ratio crown wheel and pinion. The higher ratio makes for better touring without any loss of performance.

The radiator was re-cored and fitted but with a modified system to open and close the shutters. Brown was of the opinion that the thermostatically controlled system opened and closed too early. In addition a ‘scale’ remover is fitted into the top hose in place of the Club recommendation of fitting an old sock! Lagonda radiators can collect scale which can eventually block the Radiator.

The steering box has been refurbished with a new scroll and peg and a steering damper is fitted for a very smooth operation. A complete new stainless steel exhaust system has been fitted, manufactured by John Batt.

Sparingly used for shows and European rallies over the last 30 years- on which it has frequently been awarded ‘The car everyone wants to take home ‘ . ‘CGU’ presents very well and in the words of the long-term owner has been and still is the most delightful car to drive, offering fast effortless touring in the best tradition of the model. It has clearly been looked after with a cavalier disregard to expense and the results are evident in its presentation and performance. The M 45 is the best value big engined sports tourer and this one does not disappoint. Matching numbers and previously owned by everyone’s favourite celebrity gardener who happens to know a thing or two about old cars too.

List of Owners

W H A Markant 1935 – 1954 (19 years)

Bath

Mr. Cyril Cadwaladr1954 – 1954

Cambridge

Mr. George Cooper1954 – 1957

Birmingham

Mr. A.F. Hooke1957 – 1958

Stratford upon Avon

Birmingham Car Sales1958 – 1958

Birmingham

Mr. Michael Hemming-Allen1959 – 1960

Birmingham

Mr. Harry Worthington1960 – 1963

Coventry

Mr. George Dickson1963 – 1994 (31 years)

Middlesex

Mr. Terry Brown1994 – 2022 (28 years)

Sussex

Mr. Alan Titchmarsh2022 - 2025

Hampshire

Current Owner2025 – 2026

Warwickshire