Lagonda M45 “Campaign Car”

After successfully finishing the 2006 Peking to Paris Road Rally, Aston Workshop owner Bob Fountain has taken the decision to build a new lightweight Lagonda, aka “Campaign Car”.

Based upon the rally experience from the Peking to Paris event in the Lancefield coach-built drop head, the new Lagonda is set to be lighter than its predecessor with built-in strength and performance enhancements based upon an original, very good condition, rolling chassis acquired for the project, each of the selected parts was meticulously prepared for installation on the chassis. 

Body construction

While the sourcing of parts was taking place the planned lightweight T2 type body was being constructed, the new ash frame was built in the Aston Workshop to original Lagonda plans, it was then paneled by an ex-Workshop employee now running his own specialist company. The body then moved to an associate specialist trimmer to be clad in a pre-war style leather-covered body with a black mohair hood should weather equipment be required. Painting of all parts was undertaken by our Aston Martin accredited paint shop.

Suspension/brakes upgrade

Road springs were carefully selected and matched to the Hartford friction dampers mounted on the strengthened pick up points, crack tested alloy front swivel pin/backplates were fitted and assembled with new hubs, bearings, brake shoes, and drums, the pedal assembly was brought up to date with the right hand (or should that be foot) accelerator pedal, a further upgrade was a fully rebuilt Alvis synchromesh gearbox fitted for ease of gear selection from the original “crash box” variable self-synchronised changes. The differential, the only part to show a weakness in the previous car, was fully assembled with all new bearings and competition half shafts to withstand the increased performance of the uprated engine.

Building the engine

The engine was built for reliability with all major performance components fitted as new, all parts were machined and assembled using the facilities in the Workshop engineering department and following a meticulous assembly, it was complemented with a balanced 6 branch exhaust manifold with protective heat coating, SU HD8 carburetors and a modern twin electronic ignition system fed by the complete purpose-made wiring loom produced by our electrical specialist to accommodate the negative earth alternator system.

In-house restoration

Many parts are no longer available for an eighty-five-year-old Lagonda but this is where our in-house engineering department proved their skills, in which they machined any required parts to specification.
The body was finally married to the chassis sitting on new 21” wheels with the easily recognisable Blockley tyres, to bring together a fine looking Lagonda with Bentley style radiator grille to provide a more sporting look, many more hours of work will be required by our team of multi-skilled technicians to complete this mammoth project.

We will be updating our website with more information about the Lagonda M45 “Campaign Car”. If you have questions or if you’re thinking of restoring your car please get in touch today.