Discover

'Armstrong Siddeley' was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury motor cars and aircraft engines.

Contents

History

Siddeley Autocars

Siddeley-Deasy

Armstrong-Siddeley

Products

Motor cars

Model list

Aircraft engines

External links

History

Siddeley Autocars

Siddeley Autocars, of Coventry, was founded by John Davenport Siddeley (1866-1953) in 1902. Its products were heavily based on Peugeots, using many of their parts but fitted with English-built bodies. This company merged with Wolseley in 1905 and made stately Wolseley-Siddeley motorcars. They were used by Queen Alexandra and the Duke of York, the later King Edward VII.

Siddeley-Deasy

Main articles: Siddeley-Deasy

In 1909, J. D. Siddeley resigned from Wolseley and took over the Deasy Motor Co and the company became known as Siddeley-Deasy. In 1912 the cars used the slogan "As silent as the Sphinx" and started to sport a Sphinx ^[1] as a bonnet ornament, a symbol become synonymous with descendent companies. During World War I the company produced trucks, ambulances, and staff cars. In 1915 airframes and aero-engines started to be produced as well.

Armstrong-Siddeley

In 1919 Siddeley-Deasy was bought out by Armstrong Whitworth Development Company of Newcastle upon Tyne and became the 'Armstrong Siddeley Motors' subsidiary. In 1927, Armstrong Whitworth merged its heavy engineering interests with Vickers to form Vickers-Armstrongs. At this point, J. D. Siddeley bought Armstrong Siddeley and Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft into his control. In 1928, Siddeley partnered with Walter Gordon Wilson, inventor of the pre-selector gearbox, to create Improved Gears Ltd, which later became Self-Changing Gears.
Armstrong Siddeley manufactured luxury cars, and later, aircraft engines. In 1935, J. D. Siddeley's interests were purchased by Hawker Aircraft to form Hawker Siddeley, a famous name in British aircraft production. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft became a subsidiary of Hawker. The aviation pioneer Thomas Octave Murdoch - Tommy, later Sir Thomas, Sopwith - became chairman of Armstrong Siddeley Motors, a Hawker Siddeley subsidiary.
Armstrong Siddeley produced their last cars in 1960 and the aircraft engine business was merged with that of Bristol Aero Engines to form Bristol Siddeley as part of an ongoing rationalisation of the British aerospace sector. Bristol Siddeley and Rolls-Royce merged in 1966, the latter name subsuming the former.

Products

Motor cars

The first car produced from the union was a fairly massive machine, a 5-litre 30hp; a smaller 18 appeared in 1922 and a 2-litre 14hp was introduced in 1923. 1928 saw the company's first 15hp six; 1929 saw the introduction of a 12hp vehicle. This was a pioneering year for the marque, during which it first offered the Wilson preselector gearbox as an optional extra; it became standard issue on all cars from 1933. In 1930 the company marketed four models, of 12, 15, 20, and 30hp, the latter costing £1450.
The company's rather staid image was endorsed during the 1930s by the introduction of a range of six-cylinder cars with ohv engines, though a four-cylinder 12hp was kept in production until 1936. In 1933 the 5-litre six-cylinder Siddeley Special was announced, featuring a Hiduminium (aluminum alloy) engine; this model cost £950. Car production continued at a reduced rate throughout 1940, and a few were assembled in 1941.
The week that World War II ended in Europe, Armstrong Siddeley introduced its first post-war models; these were the Lancaster four-door saloon and the Hurricane drophead coupe. The names of these models echoed the names of aircraft produced by the Hawker Siddeley Group (the name adopted by the company in 1935) during the war. These cars all used a 2-litre six-cylinder engines, increased to 2.3-litre engines in 1949. From 1953 the company produced the Sapphire, with a 3.4 litre six-cylinder engine.
In 1956 the model range was expanded with the addition of the 234 (a 2.3-litre four cylinder) and the 236 (with the older 2.3 litre six-cylinder engine). The Sapphire 346 sported a bonnet mascot in the shape of a Sphinx with namesake Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire jet engines attached. The 234 and 236 Sapphires were a radical departure from the traditional Armstrong Siddeley appearance. This, coming in a time of conservative auto design, was not well received by the marque's loyal customers. Hence, the "baby Sapphire" brought about the beginning of the end for Armstrong Siddeley.
The last model produced by Armstrong Siddeley was 1958's Star Sapphire, with a 4-litre engine, and automatic transmission. The Armstrong Siddeley was a casualty of the 1960 merger with Bristol; the last car left the Coventry factory in 1960.

Model list

Cars produced by Armstrong Siddeley had designations that implied their engine displacement.

'Model Name'	'Type'	'Engine'	'From'	'To'	'No. Produced'
Thirty	Various	4960 cc	1919	1931	2770
Eighteen	Various	2400 cc	1921	1925	2500 inc 18/50
18/50 or 18 Mk.II	Various	2872 cc	1925	1926	2500 inc Eighteen
Four-Fourteen	Various	1852 cc	1923	1929	13,365
Twenty	Short and Long chassis	2872 cc	1926	1936	8847
Fifteen	Tourer, saloon	1900 cc	1921	1925	7203 inc 15/6
Twelve	Tourer, saloon, sports	1236 (1434 cc from 1931)	1929	1937	12500
15/6	Tourer, saloon, sports	1900 cc (2169 cc from 1933)	1928	1934	7206 inc Fifteen
Siddeley Special	Tourer, saloon, limousine	4960 cc	1933	1937	253
Short 17	Coupe, saloon, sports saloon	2394 cc	1935	1938	4260 inc Long 17
Long 17	Saloon, tourer, Atlanta sports saloon, Limousine, landaulette	2394 cc	1935	1939	4260 inc Short 17
12 Plus & 14	Saloon, tourer	1666 cc	1936	1939	3750
20/25	Saloon, tourer, Atlanta sports saloonLimousine, landaulette	3670 cc	1936	1940	884
16	Saloon, Sports saloon	1991 cc	1938	1941	950
Lancaster 16	4 door saloon	1991 cc	1945	1952	12470 inc Hurricane, Whitley, Typhoon and Tempest.
Lancaster 18	4 door saloon	2309 cc	1945	1952	12470 inc Hurricane, Whitley, Typhoon and Tempest.
Hurricane 16	Drophead coupe	1991 cc	1945	1953	12470 inc Lancaster Whitley, Typhoon and Tempest.
Hurricane 18	Drophead coupe	2309 cc	1945	1953	12470 inc Lancaster Whitley, Typhoon and Tempest.
Typhoon	Fixed head coupe	1991 cc	1946	1949	12470 inc Lancaster Whitley and Tempest.
Tempest	coupe	1991 cc	1946	1949	12470 inc Lancaster Whitley and Typhoon.
Whitley 18	Various	2309 cc	1946	1949	12470 inc Lancaster Hurricane, Typhoon and Tempest.
Sapphire 346	4 door saloon & Limousine	3435 cc	1952	1958	7697
Sapphire 234	4 door saloon	2290 cc	1955	1958	803
Sapphire 236	4 door saloon	2309 cc	1955	1957	603
Star Sapphire	Saloon & Limousine	3990 cc	1958	1960	980
Star Sapphire Mk II	Saloon & Limousine	3990 cc	1960	1960	1

A feature of many of their later cars was the option of an electrically controlled pre-selector gearbox. Like many British cars of the age there is an active owners club supporting their continued use.

Aircraft engines

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, Armstrong Siddeley produced a range of low- and mid-power aircraft radial engines, all named after big cats. They also produced a tiny 2-cylinder engine called the Ounce, for ultralight aircraft.
The company started work on their first gas turbine engine in 1939. These engines were named after snakes. The Mamba and Double Mamba were turboprop engines, the latter being a complex piece of engineering with two side-by-side Mambas driving through a common gearbox, and could be found on the Fairey Gannet. The Python turboprop powered the Westland Wyvern strike aircraft. Further development of the Mamba removed the reduction gearbox to give the Adder turbojet.
The company went on to develop an engine - originally for unmanned Jindivik target drones - called the Viper. This product was further developed by Bristol Siddeley and, later, Rolls-Royce and was sold in great numbers over many years. A range of rocket motors were also produced, including the Snarler. The rocket development complemented that of Bristol, and Bristol Siddeley would become the leading British manufacturer of rocket engines for missiles.
Armstrong Siddeley's final and most powerful engine was the Sapphire. This had been developed by Metrovick and had passed to Armstrong Siddeley when Metrovick withdrew from aircraft engine manufacturing (hence the non-vivarian name).

External links

★ Armstrong Siddeley Owners Club for the cars