The great depression of the early 1930s was a difficult period for manufacturers of low-volume, high-quality cars, so the management of Lagonda Ltd. decided to introduce a smaller, middle-market model to take advantage of Britain’s RAC 9hp rating that taxed cars based on a formula that estimated a car’s power based on its bore and stroke. Thus the new Rapier was introduced in 1933 and was designed as a light, high-speed sports car.

The Rapier featured a technically advanced high-revving, all-aluminium 1,100 cc, four-cylinder engine with twin-overhead camshafts. A pre-selector gearbox allowed speedy gear changes and the relatively conventional chassis had underslung axles but provided sure handling. In addition, the Rapier was the first production chassis that came equipped with the newly developed Girling rod system which and when combined with 13” finned drums, was extremely effective.

It is believed only 322 Rapiers were produced by Lagonda Ltd. before the receiver was called in in April 1935. The company assets were acquired by LG Motors (Staines) Ltd. (renamed in 1937 to Lagonda Motors Ltd.) and the decision was made to not restart Rapier production despite possessing enough parts to produce more new Rapiers.

Former Lagonda Ltd. employees Bill Oates and Tim Ashcroft formed Rapier Cars Ltd. in August 1935 and acquired the remaining Rapier parts and restarted production on a ‘to order’ basis. Oates and Ashcroft would have been aware of the successes of the ‘Eccles’ supercharged Rapier single-seater race car and in a quest for more power offered the Centric 160/A supercharger for the roadgoing Rapier. Supercharged Rapiers also utilised a central gearchange - the supercharger and central gearchange package was also offered as a bolt-on kit to convert existing Rapiers.

The supercharger transformed the car’s performance with contemporary road testers reporting an increase in top speed of 20% and improved acceleration times of between 31% and 54%. In the end only seven supercharged Rapiers are thought to have originally been supplied by the factory, although a number of non-supercharged examples were converted post-production.

The Rapier was also successful in motor sport. Lord de Clifford regularly competing in Lagondas, his best result being 4th place in the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally in a supercharged 2-Litre. In 1934 he, together with car dealer and Lagonda agent Cyril Dobson, set up Dobson’s & de Clifford Ltd. to develop sporting and competition variants of the Rapier.

Ultimately ten ‘de Clifford Rapier Specials’ were built and featured a radiator with twenty-one (more widely spaced) slats than the standard twenty-four. In additional a ‘de Clifford Special’ badge adorned the radiator top. A de Clifford Special notably competed at the 1934 24 Hours of Le Mans finishing sixteenth.

It is believed that three (or possibly four) Rapiers were built with bodies by Harry Bertelli of Feltham who also built bodies for Aston Martin during this period. One was a de Clifford Rapier Special registered CMT 4. This car was built for competition and featured a lightweight, doorless two-seater body with a rounded tail and cycle wings. The car has subsequently disappeared.

Demand for the Rapier declined in 1936/37 which resulted in Rapier Cars Ltd. ceasing to trade in 1938. Ultimately some 368 Rapiers (plus two prototypes) were produced by Lagonda Ltd. and Rapier Cars Ltd. combined.

In 1938 well-known London-based dealer and racing driver Jack Bartlett acquired the remaining new Rapier spare parts and advertised them for sale in the motoring press in 1939.

Bartlett continued to supply parts to Rapier owners and Lagonda Rapier historian Chris Wiblin confirms in his book ‘Twin-Cam Extravagance’ that GNR 800 was built from a shortened chassis using new parts and was completed post-war. The resulting car became known as the ‘Derrington Special’.

Ex-Brooklands racing driver, car dealer and tuner Victor (Vic) Derrington advertised the completed car in 1951 and described it as;

‘1951 Lagonda Rapier, racing 2-seater, 1,100 cc, road equipped, designed and made pre-war but not completed until January 1951 when registered, therefore virtually new, underslung short-chassis, high-ratio axle, all components new, chromium-plated external 4-branch manifold and exhaust system, black leather bucket seats, aero-screens and capable of approximately 100mph and 34mpg’.

The Rapier features an extremely rare Centric supercharger and dashboard-mounted gear lever rather than the more common floor-mounted item. Intriguingly, the car also has a twenty-one slat radiator, de Clifford badge and front wing irons that follow the same pattern as CMT 4. Bartlett regularly traded with Derrington who almost certainly acquired the parts for the special from him in the late 1930s.

The continuation buff logbook on file confirms GNR 800 was first registered on the 24th January 1951 and the car’s earliest known keeper is one G.B Woolley. The Rapier was acquired by long-term owner Anthony Skipper around 1963 and Chris Wiblin’s book shows both Woolley and Skipper competed in GNR 800 at various British circuits between 1955 and 2000. There are MOT certificates on file up to 2008.

Terry Rowing bought the car around 2004 and owned it until his passing in 2022 when the previous owner acquired it and placed it in storage until we purchased it in 2025.

The Derrington Special is a unique slice of motoring history that has not been offered for sale since the 1950s and is now available for purchase as a straightforward project for an enthusiast to finish. A newly manufactured body/tail is included that can be adapted to fit and the car is mechanically complete with an engine that turns freely on the starting handle.

This historic Rapier also features the super-rare supercharger and together with period competition history represents a very attractive package indeed.​​​

£39,500