This record-breaking Lagonda will star in the Earl Howe Trophy
There is perhaps no more fitting car to race in the Earl Howe Trophy than this 1938 Lagonda V12. The man for whom this intriguing race is named guided this very machine to a record-breaking hundred-miles-in-an-hour at Brooklands in 1939. More than 80 years on, the Lagonda fires up once again to race at the 82nd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport.
The record set was for distance, not speed; a hundred miles in an hour – not a hundred miles an hour, a point owner Les Searle is keen to emphasise. Earl Howe did it, even after suffering a puncture during the attempt, Searle explained, when we caught up with him during Members’ Meeting testing.
While 2025 marks 90 years since Lagonda’s unlikely Le Mans win, this model is a few years younger than that winning car and as such boasts some of the latest technological innovations of its day. The M45R that was victorious at La Sarthe dragged itself to the end of that race with scarcely any fuel left to power its 4.5-litre Meadows engine. Fast forward a few years, and you have a car that was “very pioneering even for Lagondas,” fitted with a mighty V12 engine.
“It was the first car with hydraulic brakes, a V12, very smooth, quite high revving,” said Searle. “It is reported to have around about 200 horsepower. It’s a good engine. A lot of people call it Walter Owen Bentley's masterpiece. It has a few little issues that you've got to keep an eye on and look after, but for a 1938 engine, it is impressive.”
The heart of the Lagonda retains its originality, with the chassis, gearbox and axles all from the ‘30s in addition to the engine. It’s the outside where the car differs from how it was in period: “It was a saloon body and it had quite a few distinguishing features,” Searle says. “Unfortunately, in the ‘80s the body got taken off and it got made into this.
“The good thing about it is although the body was taken off, it survived, it was saved. So, there's always a positive out of everything. It has a fantastic patina. We’ll leave it as it is. For us, it has a very good history of what we've achieved with it.”
Searle and his wife Dee’s journey with the Lagonda began in 2019, frequently participating in tours and regularity rallies since then. Just last summer the couple hopped across the pond to drive the car 5,200 miles from New York to California, taking in the sights of the States along the way. “It’s been really enjoyable and amazingly received everywhere we go.”
For such an endurance, it helps that the car is “very, very forgiving” to drive. “Steering's heavy,” Searle reports, “but you've got a big engine in front. You need to look after it. You need to drive it in accordance with the conditions. We always carry a toolbox, gaskets, water pump seals, fast moving items.”
All that’s needed is “a good toolbox and a good assistant,” the latter the role Dee usually takes. “I'm normally doing the navigation,” she said. “And if we do have a stop for a minor incident then I'm the one that's passing the spanners and being there for moral support.”
At Members’ Meeting however, Dee will take up the role of Team Principal, ensuring the small team is running to schedule, and perched in the pit wall with eyes glued to the timings when the flag finally drops.
“[I’ll] make sure he is in the right place with the right car at the right time, make sure we've got all our paperwork and fuel organised and away we go.” The fuel in question will be, as with all cars racing over the weekend, sustainable, but that’s nothing too advanced that this pre-war creation can’t handle. According to Les, the Lagonda has “a very basic fuel system, so it looks like it's a tip and go.”
The couple are no strangers to competition at Goodwood. Les competed in last year’s S.F. Edge Trophy, finishing eighth overall in a 1913 Monarch GP 100. “It’s an extra challenge,” he says of running more than one car. “We do still work. But that's where it all starts, that's what the weekend's all about. It starts back in the shed, the workshop, preparing, making sure you're ready.
“It's all part of the days. I think people forget that. The work you do at home is very important to having a good weekend.”
While the driver may be experienced, the 82nd Members’ Meeting marks the first time the couple will race the Lagonda on a track. The Earl Howe Trophy provides the stage, a race to celebrate the great British marques of the 1920s, and the days of gentleman drivers. Les is approaching the occasion without any firm expectations, though, just with a hope that people have “a chance to see a very impressive car go around the track.”
When it does, Les promises the sound is “unbelievable.” The Lagonda got its first taste of the Goodwood Motor Circuit during pre-event testing, but restrictions of the day means it has yet to roar at full capacity. “When it's opened up, they’ll love it. I can't imagine there's not many cars like this out there. It's more valuable than me!”
The 82nd Members' Meeting will take place on 12th and 13th April 2025 and tickets are now available for Members and Fellows of the GRRC.
If you're not already a Member or Fellow and you'd like to enjoy all the racing, demos, and other exciting content at the Members' Meeting, you'll need to join the GRRC. Click here for more information or to join the club.
Photography by Joe Harding.
Members' Meeting
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Lagonda
Event Coverage
Testing
Earl Howe Trophy
82nd members' meeting
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