Armstrong Siddeley

GB, 1919 – 1960

Armstrong Siddeley Motors Ltd, Coventry, Warwickshire

The Armstrong-Siddeley firm came into being through the fusion of Armstrong-Whitworth’s carmaking activities with Siddeley-Deasy of Coventry. Apart from the abortive Stoneleigh light car of 1922, their products were always solidly-built family vehicles emphasizing good workmanship, comfort and ease of driving rather than high high performance. Up to 1939 the Armstrong-Siddeley cars for sale were readily identifiable by their massive V-radiators (except on certain smaller and cheaper versions), multi-stud disc wheels (though wire was also used in the 1930s) and Sphinx mascots. The first Armstrong-Siddeley design was a 5-litre ohv bi-block six of 30hp. This was joined by a smaller but equally massive 2.3-litre ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 18’ in 1922, and by a 2-litre 4-cylinder ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 14’ – also ohv, but with the first of the flat radiators – late in 1923; this was quite cheap at £360. Front-wheel brakes were available on the 6-cylinder Armstrong-Siddeley cars in 1924, and these also had Monobloc engines by 1926. In 1928 a sv 1.9-litre 15hp six was introduced, followed by an even smaller one of 12hp and 1236cc in1929. Also in 1929 the Wilson preselector gearbox (already tried by Vauxhall) made its debut, first as an optional extra adding £35-£50 to the price, but as standard equipment on all types from 1933 on. The 1930 range consisted of the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 12’, the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 15’, a 2.9-litre ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 20’ in owner- and chauffeur-driven versions from £485, an the big ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 30’, now listed with formal coachwork only at £1450.
Armstrong Siddeley production was always on a modest scale, running at about 1.000 a year; one of the best seasons was 1932, at the height of the Depression. An interesting departure for 1933 was the sporting 5-litre Siddeley Special with hiduminium alloy engine. This 90mph machine was catalogued from £950 upward, and some 140 Armstrong-Siddeley cars were sold over the next four seasons, while in 1934 there was a handsome Armstrong-Siddeley sports coupé on the latter (1.4-litre) 12hp chassis for ‘daughters of gentlemen’. After the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 12’ was dropped at the end of 1936, all Armstrong Siddeleys were ohv sixes and in 1939 these came in 1.7-litre, 2-litre, 2.4-litre, 2.9-litre and 3.7-litre sizes, generally with formal saloon or limousine bodywork. Despite the ‘unsporting’ character of the Armstrong-Siddeley cars, he company’s preselector boxes found many applications on competition machines, noted users being E.R.A., H.W.M. and Connaught. The last Burney Streamlines of 1932-33 used the 20hp Armstrong Siddeley engine.  
Armstrong Siddeley were among the first makers to announce a programme after World War 2. These Armstrong-Siddeley cars used the pre-war 16hp 2-litre (enlarged to 2.3 litres in 1949) engine in a new independent front suspension chassis with advanced and attractive styling. For the first time in many years a sliding-type gearbox (with synchromesh) was available as an alternative to the Wilson. The various models were named after famous aircraft produced during the war by the parent Hawker Siddeley Group: Armstrong-Siddeley Hurricane, Armstrong-Siddeley Lancaster, Armstrong-Siddeley Typhoon and, from 1949-1950, the Armstrong-Siddeley Whitley. In 1953 the firm went over to a square 3.4-litre engine with hemispherical head, the result being the Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire with a choice of synchromesh or electrically-selected preselector. A twin-carburetor 100mph version followed in 1954, automatic transmission was optional on the 1955 Armstrong-Siddeley models for sale and power-assisted steering in 1956 when the range was extended by a brace of smaller Armstrong-Siddeley models. These were the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 234’ for sale with a 4-cylinder 2.3-litre engine based on the Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire, and the ‘Armstrong-Siddeley 236’ for sale using the old long-stroke six of similar capacity. Neither sold (or looked) well and they lasted only a couple of seasons. Last of all came the 4-litre Armstrong-Siddeley  Star Sapphire, made only with automatic gearbox, though like the latter 3.4-litre cars, it was offered as a limousine as well as a saloon. In the meantime, Hawker Siddeley had amalgamated with another aircraft group, Bristol. The Bristol cars were taken over by an independent company, but Armstrong Siddeley were less fortunate and the last Armstrong-Siddeley Sapphire left the works in the summer of 1960.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Cadillac

US, 1903 to date

(1) Cadillac Automobile Co, Detroit, Mich., 1903 – 1905

(2) Cadillac Motor Car Co, Detroit, Mich., 1905 to date

The ‘Standard of the World’ started humbly as a single-cylinder car selling for $750. Henry M. Leland, its creator, had been associated with Henry Ford and has also built engines for Oldsmobile. The Model-A Cadillac was markedly similar to the early Fords in having a horizontal underfloor engine, 2-speed planetary transmission and central chain drive via a spur-type differential, but Cadillac’s 1½-litre inlet over exhaust power unit had one cylinder where Ford used two. There was no bonnet on the early Cadillac models. This very successful design remained in production until 1908, later improvements including rack-and-pinion steering, transverse front suspension and a dummy bonnet. The Cadillac marque was introduced to Britain by F.S. Bennett, who in 1908 conducted a ‘standardization test’ at Brooklands. Three single-cylinder Cadillac cars were dismantled and the parts mixed up – they were then reassembled and the vehicles run on the track. The R.A.C. awarded Cadillac the Dewar Trophy for this achievement.

A 30hp 4-cylinder Cadillac car with separate cylinders and copper jackets was announced for 1906 and 75.000 of this type Cadillac were sold before it was discontinued in 1914. The original planetary transmission gave way first to a conventional 3-speed box, and finally in 1914 to a 3-speed box with 2-speed back axle. Cadillac was one of the firms organized into the General Motors group in 1909 by W.C. Durant, and in 1910, when a 4-cylinder Cadillac tourer could be bought for $1600, the company was claiming that tolerance on 112 parts of the car were accurate to one-thousandth of an inch. 1912 saw a most important Cadillac innovation: the standardization of the Delco system of electric lighting and starting on the Cadillac, now of 5½-litres capacity and capable of 60mph. The first left-hand drive Cadillac of 1915 was also the first of the company’s V8s, to become as much a hallmark of the breed as were Buick’s overhead valves. Inspired by the De Dion Bouton of 1910 it had 5.1-litre engine and sold for $2700. 13.000 V8 Cadillac  cars were sold in the first year of production and the model was widely used by the U.S. Army in World War 1. Cylinder heads were detachable from 1917 on, and 1924 Cadillac versions had Duco cellulose finish and front wheel brakes.

In 1927, when 47.000 Cadillac cars were sold, a less expensive companion make, La Salle appeared, and the cars were restyled in 1928. The synchromesh gearbox made its world debut with the 1929 Cadillac models, which also featured chromium plating and safety glass, with a price range from $3.295 to $5.995. 1930 saw the advent of the ohv Cadillac V16 of 7.4-litres, which gave 185bhp and had a wheelbase of 12ft 4in. This sold at an average rate of 500 Cadillac cars a year for eight seasons in the $6.000-$9.000 price backet. It was joined in 1931 by an equally impressive ohv 6-litre V12 Cadillac for sale. Improvements over the next few years included power brakes (1931), ride control (1932), no-draught ventilation (1933), Dubonnet type independent front suspension (1934) and ‘turret-top’ all-steel bodies (for sale in 1935). 1938 Cadillac models had column change as standard, a year ahead of other GM products, while the V12 and V16 were dropped in favour of a side-valve short-stroke Cadillac 16-cylinder model which was made until 1940. Another new model for Cadillac in 1938, the 8-cylinder Cadillac Sixty Special, anticipated GM’s 1940 styling with its absence of running boards and 4-light sedan bodywork. 5.7-litre side-valve V8s in three wheelbase lengths made up the 1941 Cadillac range, on which Hydramatic transmission was optional for the first time.

The post-war era was to see Cadillac outstrip all its competitors in the top-price class and become an international symbol of wealth. Sales climbed from 66.000 cars in 1941 to 103.857 Cadillac cars in 1950, and to a new record of 165.959 Cadillac cars in 1964. Tail fins made their first appearance on Cadillac’s 1948 fastback coupé, and in 1949 Cadillac, along with Oldsmobile, adopted overhead valves and oversquare cylinder dimensions, their new 5.4-litre engine developing 160bhp. Cadillacs were raced at Le Mans in 1950 by Briggs Cunningham and the Cadillac engine was also used in export editions of Britain’s J2. Allard. Power output increased steadily: 190bhp in 1952 (by which time manual transmission was no longer offered), 210bhp in 1953 (when a 12-volt electric system was standardized), and 230bhp in 1954, the year when panoramic wrap-around windscreens and power-assisted steering became standard on the Cadillac for sale.

The expensive Cadillac Eldorado Brougham of 1957 (it cost over $13.000) was the first car to have air suspension (dropped after a few seasons) as standard equipment, while Cadillac, along with Lincoln, started the fashion for four headlamps, that later became universal in the USA. 1966 Cadillac cars featured GM’s perimeter-type chassis frame, a 340bhp 7-litre engine, variable-rate power steering, full air conditioning, electric door locks and seat controls, a time switch for the headlamps and a six-position steering wheel. Prices started at $4.650. In 1967 Cadillac set a new sales record of 213.161 cars, bettered in 1969 with 266.798/ They introduced a fwd car on Oldsmobile Toronado lines, the Fleetwood Cadillac Eldorado with torsion-bar ifs, self-levelling suspension, and front disc brakes, these last being applied to the more expensive Cadillac Fleetwoods with conventional drive, and to all the 1969 Cadillac range. Capacity of the Cadillac V8 engine was increased – to 7.735cc in 1968 and to 8.2 litres in 1970, but otherwise there were no major changes. In 1973 Cadillac were one of the few firms offering a nine-seater limousine: the Cadillac 75 with a wheelbase of 12ft 7½in and an overall length of 20ft 8in.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com