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Another point is that the chassis/mule was at Touring in 1959. What is clear from the Touring photos is that the prototype body built there had chrome strakes atop the rear wings, and the last time I saw 101 (at Silverstone around 1998) they were present, but as far as I know 102 did not have them. In suggesting the Lancia as a model, that is because there was a new design for Lancia being produced by Touring at the same time as the Rapide prototype was being designed (& perhaps by the same person whose name escapes me). You are right that there are still gaps in our knowledge of the sequence of events, and Touring may well have used a mule provided by AML (which for convenience we might nickname LR100, because when it came back to NP it was a working car used for a while by DB’s chauffeur)
137 was also modified by the factory. There were several iterations of the front treatment at the Touring factory, illustrated in a short article (not published on the internet) on Carrozzeria Touring using images from their archive. These different fronts were actually built (on the prototype chassis 101 or on a mule?), and show single & twin headlamp variants with various chrome trims, associated with a grille that is not DB4 exactly but more akin to (in English terms) an Austin Westminster, or drawing on Touring pedigree of the time such as a Lancia. The influence at AML on the final selected front came through various earlier Lagonda designs including “Brown Bomber” whose image can be found on the web and which shows direct lineage and evolution from earlier production (and still-born) models
Looks very good, and looking forward to hearing it (for comparison purposes of course)
The devil is in the detail! Worth doing right if you can
From memory, DB4 ones are not in a loop but in effect become one when secured by the axle bump stop securing bolts
OK for me, many thanks
Stretch Rapide – what a great idea! A couple of us thought a while ago about a soft top version when there were a some unloved cars around, create something like a Lincoln Continental convertible (as in Kennedy & Dallas) but it came to nothing of course
Christian, 4 please (subject to price!), many thanks
I have Tony’s address. You might need an introduction
I had thought there should be another exhaust hanger under the front passenger seat but may be mistaken? My other car has SS manifolds (they were about ?400 if I recall) but again I wouldn’t fit them to the Rapide because they are noisier than the cast iron ones. If you do retain the cast iron ones you should ensure that the flanges to the head are flat (they can warp) otherwise you’ll be forever replacing blown gaskets etc.
Guy, you may find your ground clearance improves when you fit new bushes in the de Dion. My car has a Quicksilver SS system as do 2 in Germany because we bought 3 whole systems to get 30% discount back in 2001 or so. If you do go with your local supplier, the key aspect is the angle between manifold and level run; mine needed some (hot) rework to get the run to fit. My other car has a Langford’s straight through single-box system from 1975 (lifetime guarantee which I still have), but too noisy for a LR!
Simon, in AM terms, wire wheels for LR are the same as DB6 Mk2, DBS and AM Vantage. I guess E-type Series 3 4.2 might be the same too
Simon, my personal view is that 5 1/2 rims will be too narrow (even if carrying 205 tyres) for the weight of the car and the forces exerted when cornering etc. With the de Dion it is possible to really hustle a Rapide on winding roads, keeping the power on, and I suspect narrow wheels will lead to too much tyre roll and wallow
I also recall an LR that had been completely rebuilt (it might be 147) and was splendid, but it had 670×15 crossplies on (too-) narrow wheels, and looked so wrong in each wheelarch
Simon, the standard rim width for a DB5 was 5 1/2 inches, and for a Rapide it is 6 inches – what are the Borranis? As far as I am aware, the offset is the same (J). The rolling radius for the tyres will be less than the original Avon Crossplies (810 x 15), but not by much, and the size you quote is the size I have on my car
Oil is not suitable for LR drive shaft splines for reasons I set out earlier