Rapier
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Posts posted by Rapier
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That view was taken "somewhere " in the French Alps on one of our visits to France in the Lagonda Rapier. At the time Im was more concerned about the cyclist seen on the right hand side of the car.
Bj
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Another photograph taken in France while on the "Chanteloup" Rally in 2009 this one shows the matching green vinyl driving light covers. I have somehow lost one of these and I am now waiting for the delivery of a piece of the green vinyl cloth to make a replacement. Below is a photo of one of the originals.
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Every time I go out into the garage or get in it to drive I cannot help but think what a good car it is and how nice it is to drive ir even just to look at. That and how lucky I am to have owned it all these years.
BJ.
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Meanwhile it is hard for me to believe that KG is not an original Eagle two seater, certainly it has now been in that form far longer than anything else and hopefully will now remain very much as it is today for a "very long time now"!
Somehow I cannot imagine it anything else other than it's current colour scheme of "Old English" Ivory (white) with dark green chassis, wheels and interior trim including it's genuine leather upholstery........
I awaiting on the delivery of a piece of darkgreen vinyl to I can make replacement (driving) light covers to protect them from "stone damage".
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Thank you Ben
We can only hope
Bernie j.
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Hello Digger 914.
One problem, we will be in England for much of the (southern) winter. so we hope to be enjoying their sunshine. This time we are not taking the Lagonda Rapier with us so we will be motoring in a hire car, at this stage make unknown.
We have lots of (car) friends to catch up with and hopefully some new ones to make. We plan to go to the Prescott Hill Climb (as spectators) so will catch up with many there.
Bernie j.
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Despite having owned a number of notable Lagondas I am still convinced that my present car, the 1934 Rapier that I have owned now for a very long time and that tells me that I have driven it over 100,000 miles is the best car that I have ever owned. I have no intention of ever selling it and will leave it up to my family to decide what to do with it after I have departed (died). Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy owning it .....
Bernie j.
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Sadly as our Autumn grinds to an end and with (our) winter just around the corner the prospect of driving the Lagonda Rapier anywhere becomes more and more wishful thinking. The Morris (project) is still out with our son Steve and I think it is probably better for it to stay out there if we are to be going away, to England, some time soon.
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Just one of my problems is that I have owned and been restoring various model Lagondas from the 1930s that I forget that there are some people looking in here that have never seen a Lagonda of any model made in the 1930s.
All I can say is "hang in there" one will appear on this thread eventually.
Personally I am "spoiled" as at one time or another during my 87 years I have owned at least one example of every engine size Lagonda made during the 1930s.
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More about the Rapier, At some time just after the end of WW2 the car passed into the hands of a well known lady motorcycle "racer", Beatrice Shilling, She rebuilt KG into a "sports racer" with a two seater aluminium body mainly constructed from "surplus" WW2 aeroplane panels. It was brought to Australia as a "spare-parts" car in the 1980 by enthusiast David Death. We bought it as a restoration project in 1984. We rebuilt it as a (replica) Eagle two seater.
Since then we have driven it over 100,000 miles. It is used regularly in VSCC Events... and has made a number of "visits" to the UK and France.
I make no excuses if you feel that I am repeating "old news".
Beatrice Shilling, were she alive today, would struggle to recognise her "old car". Today it is 1500cc with "big valves" in a high compression cylinder head. This is fitted with2x 1.5 inch SU carbs.
Bernie j.
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Now all those years later the name LAGONDA, the cars wearing it and the enthusiasts who own, maintain and drive them have outlived them all
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Thank you Demco32.
His name was Wilbur Gunn.
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Certainly it is an American (Red) Indian word. What its meaning is I am not sure.
Wilbur Gunn was an (white) American who went back to the UK to study at Oxford University. He needed transport from his lodgings to Oxford, He started by building a motorcycle and later a four wheel vehicle. People asked hf he would build a similar vehicle (car) for them. Thus started his car production.
For this vehicle he chose to name it after the creek that formed one boundry to his parents property, the "Lagonda Creek". Thus the first "Lagonda" was created. None were actually built in America!
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I seem to go through this every four of five years!
Now who can tell me the origin of the very un-English name Lagonda?
I know already, I am just checking to see how many of you take any notice of what I tell you.
You had better get it right or I may have to give you a short sharp jab in the ribs with my Rapier!
B.j.
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Really times are surely getting tough when I have to write about things like "motor mowers"!
Meanwhile the Morris Raworth Special remains out in the Yarra Valley with our son Steve and the Rapier waits patiently in the garage for the next VSCC outing. We did contemplate sending the Rapier to England for its 90th Birthday but decided against that.
I am starting to regret that decision but it is too late now to send it by Sea and to send it by Air just gets out of proportion.
This is probably "just as well" as if the car went to England I would be tempted to leave it there with one of the "dealers" to sell it. Something I do not care to even think about!Bernie j.
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Our mower is a little different having a four stroke engine. Even so with a squirt of "Starting fluid" into the throat of the carb it will start on the first or second pull of the starting cord. It is a horizontal type "rotary" mower even so it continues to give good service some, many, years after it was rescued from "someone's pile of junk" put out to go to the garbage tip.! A new spark-plug was all that was required to restore it back to "active service"!
Bj.
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I am really disappointed that no one ever bothers to reply or comment on my "posts" on this forum. Am I completely wasting my time?
The Lagonda Rapier is sufficiently rare and "different" that I would have thought to attract some (actual) comment.
For a start that it is a fully driveable "road" car that does not have a clutch yet has a completely operational "Manual change" gearbox would have arroused some of your interest. That it has a highly sophisticated "twin overhead cam" engine is not sufficient to even arouse even one person's interest. I could go on but,
WHY DO/SHOULD I BOTHER?
Bj.
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Anyway! The mower is all back together and as if it was necessary, the grass in the back-garden is mowed and starting to grow again. This is the only example of what some people call lawn in our garden. Over the next week or ten days it should have grown again to a point where it will need to be mown again!
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"Lawn Mowers!" Why would you bother? Having dismantled most of it, it is now back together again, all I need to do now is to top up the oil in the motor and to fill the fuel tank and it should be "good to go". As I said at the start of this post, Why would anyone with even half a brain bother?
Bj.
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Another weekend is almost over and I have not even backed the Rapier out of the garage. The other thing that I have neglected is to wash Helen's VW. Not a difficult task . That and the grass behind our house that we call a "lawn" needs to be mown But before that can happen I need to sort out the height adjustment. The rod coupling the front and rear axle requires some adjustment! This is something "new" and I cannot see why/how this happened?
It will have to wait now until "Next week!"
Bj.
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One thing that I am very bad at is, I assume that everyone looking at this knows about LAGONDA RAPIERS. For those who don't, our Rapier started out with a standard 1100cc four cylinder engine, It went through a period of Beatrice Shilling's ownership just at the end of WW2. She rebuilt the car as a two seater racing car. It then went through an unknown number of owners as a "Sports car" with cycle type mudguards (wings). When I bought it it had been reduced to basically "a pile of bits". I went through a process of "lightening" the chassis, boring out the engine to 1500cc, fitting "big" valves, increasing the compression ratio, removing the clutch and lightening the flywheel. It is now fitted with 17 inch wheels with "Low pressure (20psi)" tyres and a "lightweight" version of the Eagle two-seater body. Rapiers have excellent brakes, stopping in 30ft from 30mph. To the casual observer it is just another "Rapier" two seater.
It drives extremely well and has a 85-90 mph top speed. We have owned it for quite a long time and have driven it over 100,000 miles, including several visits to the UK and Europe. Despite my advancing age (I am two years younger than the Rapier) I have no thoughts of selling it.
Bj.
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Another chilly Saturday morning here "down-under, I have not yet opened the garage door, Surprisingly the car is still as clean and dust free as it was when we started the VSCC Autumn Leaves run out through the Yarra Valley last weekend, all it needs is for the (actual) Autumn Leaves to be brushed off the front carpet. These would have been carried into the car on our feet. Mainly leaves from the Grape-vines at the lunch stop at a "winery". We shared a bottle of one of their very good "reds". Just a glass and a half, not sufficient to effect my driving.
Bj.
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Last weekend's VSCC Autumn Leaves run was as to be expected a gentle drive out through the near-by "Hills" to one of the Yarra Valley wineries where we enjoyed lunch in some excellent company. The Drive home was uneventful and KG was moderate regarding it's thirst consuming slightly less than half a tank of petrol.
Driving for some of the way with Vines lining both sides of the road there was no shortage of Autumn Leaves. With Winter just around the corner we were lucky to have an excellent day in every respect. As virtually always, we had the hood (Folding roof) securely tucked away in its own compartment in the rear of the car.
BJ.
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Another photograph taken in France while on the "Chanteloup" Rally in 2009 this one shows the matching green vinyl driving light covers. I have somehow lost one of these and I am now waiting for the delivery of a piece of the green vinyl cloth to make a replacement. Below is a photo of one of the originals.
LAGONDA RAPIER.
in British Other - MG, Triumph, Jaguar, etc.
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In the next photograph of the car parked in the street, you can see the words "Equipe Australie" on the bonnet side. This was removed when the car arrived home after another of its "European tours".
In some ways I regret removing this but at the time I considered it "un-necessary".
Bj.