A car well known to the Rapier Register. Early chassis no DLF800, 1^st registered on 5/5/34, with original engine.

This exceptional Rapier was comprehensively restored to a very high standard between 2000 and 2002 but remained virtually unused until 2009. Recently re-commissioned, it is once again roadworthy and ready to be enjoyed. Invoices on file show that the restoration, mainly undertaken by J.G & J. Henderson of Consett, encompassed body, mechanics, a stunning re-trim to original pattern.

Rolling chassis restored to as new condition with new brakes & dampers, fuel tank & pipes, radiator etc.

New frame with new wings & refurbished or replaced body panels (detailed photos available), completely new interior, wiring loom, hood, sidescreens & tonneau.

All chrome renovated.

All original instruments.

Cooling fan, thermostat & cam follower protectors are recent improvements.

Recent MOT.

At a recent Vintage Car Rally, one admirer was heard to remark "I didn't know they made new ones"!

Paperwork includes old style logbook, archive photos as well as masses of invoices going back sixty years, including recent restoration. Further documents dating back to the late Fifties are supplied with the car, including a letter from a previous custodian confirming his ownership from March 1959 to May 1996.

“RAPIER” Designed to be “The best Small Car in the World”.

Lagonda returned, briefly, to the manufacture of light cars in 1934 with the introduction of the Rapier, which was heralded by The Autocar as ‘a thoroughly worthwhile newcomer among small sports-type cars’

Tim Ashcroft’s design had been on the drawing board for almost a year before it appeared in prototype form at the 1933 Olympia Motor Exhibition.

In production from the late spring of 1934, the Rapier was reminiscent of a baby 2-Litre in appearance and was most often seen with four-seat tourer coachwork. The latter was the work of coachbuilder E D Abbott, of Farnham, Surrey, which had secured the Rapier contract from Lagonda.

The Rapier’s most notable feature was its gem of an engine: a four-cylinder, twin-overhead-camshaft unit displacing 1,104cc and producing 45bhp on twin SU’s and it was the basis for many racing specials. A sturdy chassis frame, ENV four-speed pre-selector transmission and 13” diameter Girling brakes completed the mechanical picture. For its engine size the Rapier was in a class of its own, revving comfortably to 5,500rpm, turning in impressive acceleration figures and a top speed of around 75mph. With such a specification the model was necessarily expensive to produce; sales were disappointing and in 1935 manufacturing rights passed to Rapier Cars Limited, of Hammersmith, where production continued for a few more years, but only 46 cars were made.